Warm Night at Hogwarts
by GryffindorBoy
Summary: Harry and Ron are now going through some difficult times. See if they can get though it. Where will they go from here? Chapter 16 is UP FINALLY!
1. Default Chapter

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

Chapter 1: Realization

Ron pulled a chair up to the table that Harry and Hermione were sitting at without making a sound. He slowly put his hand on Hermione's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Eh, Hermione, can you help me with my muggle studies homework?"

Hermione turned around and let out a gasp. She reached her hand up and almost brought it down on Ron's face. She looked up into his blue green eyes and she began to blush. She knew that he should have never gotten into muggle studies, but the only reason that he sis was because his father worked at the ministry in the muggle artifacts section. She knew that deep down Ron wanted to be like his father, or to at least he liked by his father. Ron was always in the shadows behind Charley, Fred and George, and Percy. Although, with the recent events of Percy pushing his parents out of the loop and him following Cornelius Fudge's decisions, Ron became higher on the Weasley totem pole. Hermione smiled sheepishly at Ron and apologized profusely for almost hitting him. "Ah, excuse me Harry, but I am thinking that Ron must really need my help if he's actually coming over to ask me for it. But if you need more help with your parchment, then let me know. Ok Harry?"

Yeah, that will be fine Hermione." Harry replied as they started walking away. He sat there watching them. He was realizing how good of a friend Hermione was to them. But what he noticed even more than that, was how Ron's butt looked in his robes. He closed his eyes to think of one of his favorite memories.

(Harry's Memory)

Harry pulled his covers up closer to his chin because he didn't want to get out of bed. He didn't really want do to anything. He could see movement through his curtains. He noticed that Neville and Seamus were already done for the morning. He wondered who was moving around. He rolled over and closed his eyes trying to go back to sleep, but he was surprised by something hitting his bed and walking along it.;

"Dobby, I'm trying to get some sleep, can't this wait until morning?"

There was no answer. Harry turned his head back to the direction it was facing when he suddenly woke up and was surprised to see Hedwig standing on his bed with a box hanging from his mouth. Harry sat up and quickly retrieved it from his owl.

"Who who" was Hedwig's quick reply and with that he flew off through the curtains and then through the window back to the olwlery leaving a gap in Harry's curtains. He looked out through them and saw Ron standing up stretching. Harry turned his head away, but then quickly looked back. There was something odd about the way he looked. It hit Harry like a brick, Ron was naked. He slowly brought his hand up and closed his curtains just a little bit more so he could watch him without being caught. Ron started getting dressed in his robes, and he noticed that Ron didn't put on any undergarments.

"HARRY!"

Harry snapped back to reality before he could finish his memory. He saw Colin Creevey standing in front of him with his camera poised and ready. FLASH! "This will make a good picture for the Hogwarts Prophet."

"Uh Colin, what was that picture for?"

"Oh, sorry Harry, but we are doing articles on students who are having trouble getting all of their homework done and still being awake for classes. I saw you working on your parchment and that you fell asleep and thought that you would be the perfect example. Of course I got on of you while you were sleeping also, but I hope you don't mind. That's why I had to wake you up, so I can get you to tell me that it's ok to use this in the newspaper. It is ok right Harry?"

"Colin, calm down. Why do you want to use me for the picture?"

"Well Harry, you're the boy who lived. You're supposed to be the best wizard around and if you are having trouble with your homework, then what does that say for the rest of us regular wizards?"

"Colin, I am just a regular wizard." Harry threw his hands up in disgust, "how many times do I have to explain this to you? There is nothing special about me. Ok, so I lived through one of Voldemort's spells, but that doesn't make me anything special. Besides, it wasn't my magic that saved me, it was my mothers. The only I'm still alive is because she died saving me because she loved me. It's a special magic that we can't know yet."

Colin just stared at Harry. He didn't understand why Harry was going off into a tirade about he was still alive. He was beginning to open his mouth to say something, but he felt someone's hand on his shoulder and he was being pushed to the side.

He looked over to see someone a lot taller than him with red hair standing where he was just.

Harry looked up to see a very flushed and very sweaty Ron. He was panting like he had run around the school grounds quite a few times. "Harry, there you are!"

"Yeah Ron, I was trying to finish my Divination parchment but I guess I fell asleep because Colin took my picture."

"Colin took your picture because you were sleeping?" Ron asked secretly wishing that he could have been the one to wake Harry.

"It's a long story, but why are you looking for me?"

"Quidditch practice started half an hour ago mate."

"Oh crap!" Harry said while pushing his chair back. He looked at Ron with a look that said, 'how could you let me forget'. "What time is it Ron?"

"Bout quarter after seven." Ron replied after looking at the clock over one of the windows. "You'd better get your feet in gear if you want to make it in time."

Harry stood and slammed his fist on the table. He was mad at himself for falling asleep to begin with, then to find out that he had almost missed quidditch practice, that took the last piece out of the cake. He cursed himself under his breath and moved away from the table. He started running towards the stairs, then taking them two at a time.

Colin stood there staring at him wondering what had gotten him in such a fit. He knew that he almost missed quidditch, but a practice couldn't be that important could it?

Ron immediately started running after Harry. When he reached the boys bedroom he was surprised to see clothes thrown everywhere. "What are you doing Harry?"

"Looking for my quidditch robes. Do you know where I put them after our last practice?"

Ron stood there thinking for a few moments. He did remember where Harry threw his robes, but he didn't know if he could tell him, because then he have to explain why he knew that they were halfway under his bed. Ron closed his eyes to remember watching Harry undress and get into bed. He had to turn away from him quickly as to not be embarrassed. "They're under your bed Harry."

Harry quickly threw the skirting of his bed up and sure enough there were his practice robes. Harry secretly wondered how Ron knew that's where they were, but he decided not to say anything. He draped the robes over his shoulder and began walking to the door. He turned around to see Ron's arm moving, but he couldn't see what he was doing. "Ron, are you coming?"

Ron being startled at Harry's voice, jumped when he spoke. He had almost been caught. "Yeah Harry, right behind you." He breathed out a heavy sigh at the thought that formulated in his head from that phrase. He turned around and started walking after Harry. He tried to keep his distance to that way Harry couldn't talk to him about what he was doing in the room.

Harry noticed that Ron wasn't right up with him on the way to the field and he slowed down waiting for Ron to catch up. Finally he did catch up with him. "Ron, what's going on?"

"What do you mean mate?" Ron asked honestly.

"I mean why are you ignoring me all of the sudden? You act as if I don't exist half of the time, and the other half…well, I don't know what's going on."

"Harry, I have no clue what you're talking about. I have not been ignoring you. Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, is there something that you're hiding from me?"

"Are you asking me if I'm lying to you? How ridiculous is that Harry? You know that I wouldn't lie to you, so I don't know why you are assuming that I would do that."

Ron, I am not assuming that you would lie to me, in fact, I didn't say anything about lying, that was you. I just asked if you were hiding something from me."

Ron, getting angry enough that his face started to turn the same color as his hair, began to yell back. "Harry, that's bloody absurd. You're my best friend. You know that I tell you everything, so if I'm 'hiding' something from you, then you are assuming that I am lying to you because I don't keep secrets from you. And by the way, if I did keep a secret from you, it would be for a very good reason."

"What's a good enough reason to keep something from your b-"

"Oh, are the two boyfriends fighting?" Draco Malfoy had come into the alley way that the boys were taking on their way to the quidditch field.

"Who in the bloody hell said we were boyfriends?" Harry screamed.

"I said, that's who. And Potter, I can't believe that you would pick someone like Weasel to be with."

"And who do you thing that I should pick?"

Only the best and most good looking boy in this whole school. Me. Wait Potter, are you saying you're ga…"

"I'm not saying anything Draco."

"But what are you saying Malfoy?" Ron piped into the conversation.

"Leave your filthy face out of this Weasel. This is nothing to do with you."

"If you're saying that Harry and I are dating, than it has everything to do with me."

Draco ran up and got into Ron's face and gave him an evil smile. "It seems to me that you are taking an awful lot of offense to what I'm saying. So there must be some truth to it."

"Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing?" Professor McGonagall came striding into the alley way.

"Professor, Draco here was just explaining to us that we were…" Harry interrupted.

"Mr. Potter, I believe that I asked Mr. Malfoy the question, not you. Mr. Malfoy?"

"Well Professor, I was watching the Gryffindor team practice their quidditch and I noticed that Ron and Harry weren't there. So I was on my way to find them and let them know that they were missing their practice."

"Oh, is that so Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes, it is Professor."

"Well, my ears must need a good cleaning because that is not what I heard you telling them. And since you lied to me, Twenty Points from Slytherin."

Draco stormed off in the direction of his house, obviously to talk to Snape about what had just happened. All three of the Gryffindors stood exactly as they were until they heard the door open and then slam.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, I will not tolerate students making such remarks about someone because of who they wish to be with. It is their decision, but I must strongly advise you to keep certain things between yourselves and not to share them with the entire school."

"Professor, I have no clue what Draco was talking about. Harry and I are not together." Ron tried to defend them.

"Mr. Weasley, your personal life is no business of mine." Professor McGonagall said as she swished her robes and transformed into a cat. She was gone at that point.

"Well that was odd." Harry said to Ron trying to hide the blushing that he was so profusely doing.

"Ron strode off before Harry could ask him for a response. His goal was to get to the changing rooms before Harry could. Right now he couldn't see him. As he rounded the corner he wiped a tear from his eye.


	2. Acceptance

Chapter 2: Acceptance

Harry put his school robes back on after quidditch practice and noticed that Ron was already gone. He found this kind of odd since they always walked back together trying to formulate plans to use against their opponents. But Harry decided not to press the issue and walked back alone. While he was doing this he was thinking about how Ron had run off after Professor McGonagall had talked to them earlier that day. He didn't know why he had run off, but he could swear that Ron was crying when he did so. He also wasn't himself when he was flying on his broom. He had missed almost every shot that was thrown at him. Ron wasn't the best Keeper in the world, but he was getting considerably better. He figured that it was just what Draco had said to them earlier that threw him off. But someone deep down was telling him otherwise.

Ron lay on his bed crying. He couldn't believe that he had run away from Harry when he needed him most. But he was exactly right in wondering if Ron was keeping a secret from him. He was. Ron loved Harry. But he didn't know how he could tell him. If he could tell him. His thoughts were cut short by one of the other boys walking into the dorm. He carefully pulled his curtains aside and saw that it was none other than Harry himself. He reached up and covered his mouth to keep his erratic breathing down so hopefully Harry wouldn't hear him and know that he was in here. But Harry was to smart for Ron. He could feel someone walking closer to his bed. He then saw the shadow outline of Harry standing next to him. "Ron, I know you're in here. I saw you running up the stairs when I walked into the common room. Why are you hiding from me?"

Ron just lay there not knowing what to say. Harry had caught him. He didn't know what to do. He closed his eyes and envisioned what he wanted to happen. He threw open his curtains and jumped out of his bed and wrapped his arms around Harry and told him everything. How he loved him, how he fell in love with him when he saw him for the first time on platform 9 ¾. He brought his lips to Harry's and they began to kiss.

"Ron, I think I know what you're hiding from me, and it's ok." Harry said pulling Ron out of his daydream.

"What do you mean it's ok Harry?"

"I talked to Hermione. She told me everything," Harry slowly pulled open the curtains on Ron's bed and sat down next to him. He carefully reached out a hand and put it on Ron's leg. " So you're not doing so well in Muggle Studies. It's nothing to be this upset about."

Ron just lay there with his mouth agape. Now he really didn't know what to say. All he knew that that he couldn't tell Harry. "Uh yeah, sure Harry." With that he smiled and turned his head away because he was afraid that he would start crying again. He lay there completely still thinking about how he felt about Harry.

Harry got up and went to his own bed. He was sure that Ron was lying to him this time. He didn't think that's what had Ron so upset, but then again, he was there when Hermione was helping him with his homework either. He took off his robes and then threw on his pajamas. He crawled into bed and lay down secretly leaving the curtains open just a bit to see if Ron would get up. He put his head down on his pillow and began to wonder what it would be like if Ron were in his bed with him. He could feel Ron's hand on his chest and he began to breathe more deeply.

Ron lay in bed also thinking of what it would be like to have Harry in his bed also. He wondered if Harry could be like him, but then he thought better of that. 'He's the famous wizard, how can he be like me?' But the thought stayed in his mind anyways. He began to think of all of things that he and Harry could do together. He imagined him pulling Harry in for a deep kiss, then sliding his hand deep into his robes.

Meanwhile, Harry, still in his bed was thinking about why Ron was acting so funny toward him lately. He knew that he had these strange feelings for Ron. Like he could just watch him all day and not worry about anything else. He could just look into his eyes and he would be lost. But it would not be lost in a bad way; he would be lost in the eyes of the one that he secretly loved.

Ron decided enough was enough. He couldn't keep Harry in the dark anymore. He had to tell him how he felt, and right now it didn't matter what Harry would say. He knew that Harry knew that he was acting funny toward him, well that was going to change. Ron pushed his covers off of him and walked quietly over to Harry's bed. He could see movement behind Harry's curtains. He could hear muffled breathing. Quietly a moan came from Harry's bed.

THUMP. "Dammit Harry, IL think your bed is trying to kill me." Ron said while jumping up and down on one foot.

Harry quickly covered himself and opened his curtains to see Ron dancing around holding his hurt foot. "What are you doing Ron?"

Ron gingerly placed his root back on the ground and walked over to Harry. He sat down on his bed and placed his hand on his chest. "Harry, we need to talk."


	3. Hermione's Intervention

Chapter 3: Hermione's Intervention

Harry looked up at Ron and he knew that he wasn't joking around. Harry slid over in his bed to offer Ron a place to sit down. He pulled the covers down and patted the side of the bed that was open to let Ron know to sit down.

"Do you think that this is the safest place to talk?" Ron said looking around.

Harry reached over and grabbed his glasses and put them on. He then reached over and grabbed his wand. He pointed it at each wall of his four-poster bed and gave a charm that would not allow anyone else to hear what they were talking about if they came in.

Ron being satisfied with that sat down and put his legs under Harry. He was looking around trying to figure out where to begin. He noticed the package sitting at the foot of Harry 's bed. "What's that mate?"

Harry looked at the end of his bed and realized it was the package that Hedwig brought earlier that day. He reached down and grabbed it. "I don't know. Hedwig dropped it off to me this morning and I guess I haven't had the time to open it."

"Whose it from?"

Harry looked at the box and realized that there was no return address on it. I don't know. It doesn't say." He reached down and grabbed for the paper on the side of it.

"Harry wait. Can we talk first before you open it up?"

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"I was thinking tonight when I was running back here after quidditch."

"You mean when you were running away from me."

"Dammit Harry, not everything has to be about you. You know sometimes I just get sick of being in the shadows behind you Harry."

Harry looked surprised to hear this. He never thought of Ron and Hermione in the shadows behind him. Although now that he thought about it, it did make sense. Like when Fluffy's room was broken into and they all went down there. Hermione and Ron gave him advice and did things for them to get through, but ultimately, it was Harry that got all of the recognition for beating Voldemort. "I don't understand Ron."

"Harry, I don't want to be in the shadows behind you anymore-"

"Are you telling me that you8 don't want to be my friend anymore Ron? Does Hermione fell the same way?"

"Harry, that's not what I'm telling you. And I hope Hermione doesn't feel that way. What I'm saying is-"

"So you and 'Mione have talked about this?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Harry, would you let me talk please? What I have to say isn't easy. And yes, 'Mione knows how I feel and she's fine with it. It took her a little bit to understand, but she eventually got it."

"What? Ron, I don't understand."

"Let me explain Harry. Ok, like I said, I don't like being in the shadows behind you, and to be quite honest Harry, I hate it. That's why I…I…" Ron began to trail off. He suddenly realized that he didn't know what to say. He had it planned out in his head, but now he was beginning to work though it again, it sounded so…dumb.

"Ron, go ahead and say it." Harry said. He could see that Ron was having a hard time explaining this to him. He wanted Ron to feel comfort when he was around him. The way Ron kept shifting on his bed and looking around, made Harry wonder. 'Could Ron be telling me what I think he's telling me?' He didn't know if he wanted it to be true or not. He knew that it had feelings for Ron, but he also knew that Hermione was in love with Ron. 'If Ron talked to Hermione about how he feels about me, then that could be why she hasn't talked to me since she left t his morning. Could she be jealous?"

"Well Harry, it's like this. I have these…things."

"What things Ron?"

"Dammit Harry, let me explain." With that Ron had no other choice. He pulled Harry's wand out of his hand and pointed it right at Harry's throat and whispered "Silencio."

Harry looked down at his throat as he saw the silver white strands come out of the end of the his wand and then go into his throat. He had never felt such coldness on his body before. Now he did all that he could do, he sat there and waited for Ron to explain.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" asked a voice that sounded like it was in the same stall as her.

"Who said that?" Hermione asked as she was looking around?

"Hehe, who else silly? It's me." Moaning Myrtle said as she came through the door to the stall and saw Hermione sitting on the toilet crying.

"Oh, it's you Myrtle! You scared me," she answered while wiping the tears from her eyes. She looked at Myrtle with new eyes, she had never thought of her as a caring ghost. "I thought you had to say in the girls bathroom on the second floor."

"Oh no, I can go wherever I want to, it's just that usually I stay there because no one ever goes in there and I have it all to myself I have a reputation in case you haven't noticed, and I guess no one wants to be bothered by a ghost who always talks about show she died. But I heard you from up there and I came to see what was wrong."

"Oh Myrtle. I don't know what to do. It's Ron." Hermione said while still wiping the tears that would refuse to stay in here eyes.

"What's he done this time?"

"He says he doesn't like me. I've tried all I could to let him know how much I care for him more than a friend, but it seems like he likes someone else.."

"Oh, boy troubles. Well, I would go and have a talk with this other girl. Let her know who the boss is."

"That's the problem Myrtle, it's not a girl that he likes. It's Harry."

"WHAT?" Myrtle looked at Hermione and gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth covering it. "I can't believe that. What does Harry think about all of this?"

"Harry doesn't know yet. Ron asked me what to do and I said that he should tell him. Of course I asked how long he's liked Harry and he said since the first say they met on the platform 9 ¾."

"Leave it to a boy to squish a girls dream." Myrtle went over to Hermione and placed a ghostly hand on her back for comfort. Even though Hermione couldn't feel it, she knew what Myrtle was trying to accomplish.

"Thanks Myrtle. I guess I just needed someone to talk to about it. But I can tell that things are going to be different between the three of us now."

"How so?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Harry likes girls. And if Ron tells him he likes him, then oh-. Myrtle, I have to go."

"Why, what's going on?"

"I'll fill you in later. I promise." Hermione ran out of the bathroom and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. She had to stop Ron before he said anything.

Ron sat there on Harry's bed still trying to figure out what to say to him. Right now it was just a bunch of jumbled up words trying to force their way out of his mouth. He knew that he had to say this just right in order to make Harry understand. He closed his eyes trying to clear his mind but nothing was working. He decided to just spit it out. "Harry, for quite some time now, I've liked you."

Harry sat there, still under the silencio spell. He just nodded his head up and down letting Ron know that he had heard him. He was patiently waiting for him to continue with what he had to say.

"Harry, I don't know how to say this. I guess the best way to say it is that I-"

Hermione had busted down the boys dormitory door with her wand at the ready and as soon as she was in the room she pointed it at Ron and said "Silencio!" Once again Harry saw the silver white strands come out of her wand and hit Ron right in his throat. He sat there looking dumbfounded. She slowly walked over to the boys and sat down on Harry's bed also. Ron was giving her the look of death when she placed her hand on his leg and opened her mouth to speak. "Ron, I need to see you in private." She grabbed his arm and drug him away.

Harry quickly jumped on his feet and ran over to Hermione. He pointed at his throat and was waving his hands all over the place. She stopped and looked over at him and with a quick smile she pulled out her wand and gave a reversal spell so that Harry could talk again.

"'Mione, what in the bloody hell are you doing?" Harry asked gasping for breath like he hadn't been breathing the entire time.

"Ron and I need to talk before he ruins our lives. All of our lives Harry."

Harry stood there looking at Ron and then back at Hermione. He didn't understand, and he dreadfully wanted to. "I don't get it." Now the other thing for him to do was to wait for her to answer him.

"I know you don't Harry, but you will one day. I'm saving your life."

"But I'm not in any danger. How can you be saving my life if I'm not in any danger?"

"Don't think of it as physically saving your life, but metaphorically saving your life. I know you don't understand, and you may not be in physical danger, you're in emotional danger, and as your best friend, I don't think I can allow that to happen.

"Why?"

"Because Harry, I love you, and it would hurt me more than anything to see you hurting."

"'Mione, if you think that Ron telling me that he likes me is going to cause me to hurt, than you're the one whose mad. I already knew that he liked me. We have been friends for how long?"

"Quite some time now Harry, but it's more than that?"

Ron reached over behind Hermione's back and grabbed her wand. He mouth the reversal spell and was again able to speak. "Harry, I don't know why she doesn't want me to tell you, but she told me earlier that it would be best if I did."

Hermione glanced over at Ron, just now realizing that her wand was gone. She opened her mouth to talk but Harry put his hand over it. "Don't say anything. I want to hear what Ron has to say."

Ron glanced over at Hermione and saw that she was pleading with her eyes not to tell him. He knew that there was something behind that look, but he didn't know what it was. He stood there thinking about what he was going to do. He knew that he wanted to tell Harry how he felt but he knew that Hermione had figured something out. He knew that he should follow her and figure out what it is that she wanted to tell him. "Sorry mate, but it's gonna have to wait."

Harry just stood there with his mouth open. He was so close to knowing what had Ron so upset. He watched as the two left the room. He stomped back to his bed pouting.


	4. Room of Requirements

**Chapter 4: The Room of Requirements**

Hermione drug Ron down the hallway and made a sharp left. He tripped over his feet and fell to his face. "Uh, 'Mione can we just talk here while my face heals?"

She looked at him with her mouth agape. She couldn't believe that he just said that. "No Ronald, we cannot just talk here. What if someone hears us?"

"Then someone hears us. What's the big deal?"

"I'll tell you when we get where I'm taking you." She said and then grabbed his hand and picked him up off of the floor. She then started to run again pulling him behind her. It seemed to Ron that she was taking him to the furthest end of the castle, but when she stopped and turned to look at the door he was glad that they had gotten there.

Harry sat in bed thinking of all of the things that Ron could have told him. He decided that he would try to narrow them down and try and figure it out. He knew that Ron didn't like being in the shadows behind him. So did that mean that Ron was only going to be Harry's friend in private? He thought that even that didn't sound like Ron. Nothing he had been saying lately sounded like the Ron that he knew. Unless the Ron that he knew wasn't the real Ron.

Hermione opened the door cautiously. It had a table, two cups and a pitcher of pumpkin juice, and two chairs. The room was lighted fairly well. Other than that, it was empty. It seemed that the room was there just for two people to talk. Ron found it kind of odd that there would be a room in a castle set up this way.

"It's the Room of Requirements, Ron."

"Oh." Was all Ron could say. He had heard Harry talk about this room. But as far as anything else, he couldn't remember anything else about the room. He walked over to a chair and plopped down trying to catch his breath. He grabbed a cup and drank it down quickly. The pitcher rose by itself and refilled Ron's cup. "'Mione, I don't know what's going on, or why you brought me here, so tell me, what's going on?"

Hermione just gaped at him like he should have known the way Harry would have reacted to him telling him that he's in love with him. She shook her head and said, "boys, they'll never understand." She walked over to the table and sat down. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Ron.

"Wait, does this have something to do with what I was going to tell Harry?"

"Of course it does Ron. Have you thought about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, have you sat down and figured out how you're going to tell him that you're in love with him?"

"Well, no, I was just going to tell him."

"Just gonna tell him eh? And how, Ronald Weasley do you think he would have responded to you just telling him that you love him?"

"I don't know. I never really thought about it. Why how do you think he would have responded?"

"Well, I think for one, _IF_ he is gay, then he might not care, but _IF_ he not gay, then he might not understand. Or even worse, he might not want to be your friend anymore."

"You mean, he might not like me because I'm gay? That's not fair."

"I know it's not fair Ron, but some people don't like gay people. It doesn't really make sense to me either, but that's just how people are. I don't care if you're gay or not. I love you the same, but I don't know if Harry feels the same way."

"Well how do you think we should find out? Can't we just ask him?"

"NO! You can't just ask someone if they like gay people or not."

"Why not?"

"Because if he doesn't, then he might get suspicious of you, and end up not liking you anyways. I think I should bring it up in conversation, ya know? Mention something about my uncle who's gay and see how he reacts to it."

"But what's Harry care about your uncle?"

"It's not what Harry cares about my uncle; it's to see how he reacts to the fact that he's gay."

"Oh, I think that might work, but what if he doesn't give any reaction, either way?"

"Then we'll have to figure something else out."

Harry lay in his bed still thinking about Ron. He thought of how he longed to be with him at this very moment instead of being alone in his bed. He wished that Hermione would quit talking to him so Ron would come back to him. He had his eyes closed and he was thinking of Ron when he woke up in the morning, seeing his hair all mused from sleep and him sitting on the edge of his bed wiping the sleep from his eyes. Harry's breathing started to get shallow. He noticed that his body heat was rising, along with other things. The thoughts of Ron kept coming. He was now thinking of Ron while he was eating. Watching him carelessly shovel food into this mouth, not caring who saw or what they thought. His breathing now more erratic then ever, he rolled over onto his stomach and his hips naturally gyrated into the mattress.

Hermione sat at the table just staring at Ron. She couldn't believe that he was gay. It had finally sunken in to the full extent of her knowledge. She would never get a chance with him. Her dreams were coming to a disbelieving halt. She was trying to think of something to say to Ron so he wouldn't know what was going through her head. There was a question that was always coming to the forefront of her mind, but she didn't want to ask it.

"Hermione, I can see that you're thinking, what about?"

"Well, I just wonder. How did you know you're gay?"

"How did I know? I don't know, I guess I just did."

"You just did?"

"Well yeah, like when most other boys were thinking about girls in their classes, I was always thinking about Harry. I don't know 'Mione. But I figured that's how I knew I was gay."

"But what made you accept it?"

"What?"

"What made you ok with being like that?"

"I guess just thinking that the only way I could be happy would be to be with the one that I love. And that's Harry. I don't know what it is about him, I just love him."

"But how do you know?"

Before Ron could answer the two heard a door open. A door just appeared in the wall and out walked Draco in their conversation.

"Weasel and mudblood, what are you doing in here?" Draco asked quickly.

"We were talking, what are you doing Malfoy?" Ron shot back.

Draco briskly walked over to Ron and picked him up out of his chair. The blond stared deep into Ron's eyes. "You know, for being a pureblood, you're quite stupid."

Ron looked into the steel grey eyes of Draco and realized that the only reason he was being mean to everyone was because he was scared. Ron turned his head and saw that Hermione had started crying at Draco calling her a mudblood. "And for someone who looks like a ferret, you're awfully arrogant."

Draco sneered his famous Malfoy sneer and coiled back to punch Ron in the face. He didn't see Hermione come up behind him. When he did see her he reared his head around and was met with her fist. He fell to his knees and held his head between his hands. His tongue felt the inside of his mouth. He was hit by the salty taste of blood. He growled out of natural reaction.

Ron bent down and pulled his head back. "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all Malfoy." He let go of Draco's hair and shoved his head forward. Draco's head reeled forward and hit the cement floor. Draco involuntarily spit up blood when his head connected with the floor. He mumbled something incoherently and then went unconscious.

Hermione looked down at Draco and then at Ron and thought that she had never seen him be so tough before. "What are we supposed to do with him now?"

Ron stood there and looked down at the incapacitated Draco. He didn't know that he could throw someone so hard. "I don't know. Maybe we could just leave him here."

"But what if he remembers what happened?"

"Then couldn't you do a memory charm on him? You know, make him forget what happened?"

"I don't know if you can do to that to someone when they are unconscious. I don't know if it will have the same affect."

"It's worth a try isn't it 'Mione?"

Hermione pulled out her wand and went through all of the spells in her head before picking out the right one. She pointed her wand at Draco's head muttered "_Obliterate._"

Harry had counted the number of bricks behind his bed for the fourteenth time. He was getting anxious now for Ron and Hermione to come back. He didn't think that they would be gone this long. Soon, the teachers would be out patrolling the hallways making sure all of the students would be in bed. He thought of going to look for them, but quickly decided against it for fear that they wouldn't be done talking and him upsetting Hermione, or even worse, Ron. He looked back at the wall and started counting again.

"I hope that worked." Hermione stated.

"Well he jumped, so it should right?"

"I don't know Ron. I've never had to do that spell to someone who wasn't conscious before."

"Ok Hermione. I haven't forgotten that I knocked him out. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

I'm not trying to say that you did. I'm just surprised myself that you did it. I mean, I never knew you were so strong."

Ron's face started to get red with embarrassment. He lowered his head trying not to meet her eyes. He really didn't want to hear her talking like this about him. He would rather hear Harry talking like this. He thought of Harry alone in the dorm. Left wondering what Ron was going to say to him. He looked up and looked directly into Hermione's eyes, "I'm going to tell Harry tonight."

Hermione just stared open mouthed him. "Have nothing I said tonight sunken in through your thick skull?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've been trying to tell you not to tell him Ron. I mean, like I said before, what if he's not gay?"

"'Mione, that's a chance I will have to take. And if he is gay? Then I could be the happiest person of my life."

"But if he's not, then you will be depressed. AND Harry might hate you. I think we should stick to the plan."

"Oh screw the bloody plan! I've decided that I'm telling him that I love him. And there is nothing you can do to change that."

Hermione crossed her arms in front of her and stood in front of the door. "Ronald Weasley. You listen to me. You could be making the biggest mistake of your life."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, thanks to you, but I could also be making the best move of my life."

She stood there staring at him and she then realized that no matter how had she tried, she could not interfere with love. She could only hope and pray that he was making the right decision.

Ron stepped past her and opened the door to the hallway. He suddenly realized that he had no clue in the castle where they were. He turned around, "Hermione, could you help me get back to the common room?"

"Boys, so bad with directions." She mumbled under her breath. She walked out in front of him and reached out to grab his hand, and then pulled her hand away, 'that's Harry's now' she thought. She started walking faster then normal trying to wipe the tears away from her eyes.

Draco stirred on the floor and opened his eyes cautiously. 'Where am I?" He sat up and saw the table and the two cups of pumpkin juice. He looked around and thought that this was the oddest place he'd ever seen.


	5. The Bearing of Two Souls

**Chapter 5: The Bearing of Two Souls**

Hermione turned the corner and saw Professor McGonagall. She stopped and turned around to Ron. "The professors are out already. We have to be careful." She saw Ron's silent acknowledgement and wondered where his head was at, and what he was really acknowledging. She pushed it out of her head and continued on. Before they knew it, they were standing in front of the fat lady's portrait listening to her bicker on and on about how students should not be out so late. Ron walked up to her and said in a quite audible hushed tone, "Yellow Pumpkin Pasties," and the whining portrait swung open. Ron dashed through and was almost at the stairs when she stopped and turned around to see Hermione just now entering the common room. He walked over to her and pressed his lips to her cheek. He saw her face flush red. "What was that for Ron?"

"It was to thank you for everything you'd done for me."

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't. It's ok. But you may think that me telling him that I love him is the wrong thing do to, but I've realized that it's not. I need to tell him. Just like your uncle, why should I live my life in secrecy?"

"Because sometimes…" Ron placed his hand over Hermione's mouth stopping her from finishing her sentence. "Don't. You've already done all you can do, any more and it would just get annoying."

Hermione smiled and waved her hand to the boy's stairs. She saw Ron give her a quick smile and then take off toward their dormitory. She lost sight of him as he quickly climbed the stairs running to the one that he loved.

Harry continued counting the bricks when he heard the door open. He thought that it would be Seamus or one of the other boys coming in from the common room. He didn't hear the curtains being opened. He ignored the weight being added to his bed by another body. He didn't want to think of anyone else being on his bed but Ron. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he involuntarily sunk back into Ron's body. "Hi Harry."

Harry mumbled an answer not intelligible to Ron. It almost sounded like a moan. Harry had his eyes closed and he imagined Ron wrapping his other arm around him and pulling him into a deep hug. It felt so nice, so real. Harry's eyes shot open. This wasn't a dream. He wasn't imagining this at all. It was really happening. Ron was hugging him. "Hi Ron."

Ron loved the feeling of Harry in his arms. He had waited so long to have this one moment. He forgot what he was going to say. He bent his head down and smelled Harry's hair and he was in oblivion. He realized that this is how life should be. He realized that there was no need for words at this moment. He reached up and turned Harry's head and bent down and placed his lips against Harry's. Harry melted even more into Ron's body. He kissed Ron back. Harry opened his mouth to allow Ron access. Ron's tongue entered Harry's mouth and began to explore all the crevices of the new place.

Harry broke the kiss and turned around. He reached up and wiped the tear from Ron's eye. "What's wrong?"

"I've waited for this moment since the day that I met you, and I can't believe it's finally here."

Without giving a verbal response, Harry leaned back into Ron's body forcing him on his back. Harry lay on top of him and began to kiss and tease his neck. Ron moaned and writhed from excitement. Harry made his way back up to Ron's mouth. He pressed his lips firmly against Ron's.

As much as Ron was enjoying this treatment, he pushed Harry away. "We need to talk."

"No we don't. I already know what you've been wanting to tell me. I knew when you kissed me."

Ron's face went deep red. He was glad that he didn't have to voice his love for Harry just yet. He was enjoying holding Harry. Not having to say anything. He closed his eyes and pulled Harry into another hug and just lay on the bed holding him. The two boys, lost in euphoria, fell asleep lost in each other's love.


	6. Little Surprises

**"Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

**Chapter 6**

**"Little Surprises"**

****

Summary: Harry is surprised by certain events. What will he do about them?

**Little Surprises**

Ron and Harry were awoken by a flash. Harry reached up and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them, he was looking up at the surprised faces of Neville and Dean. "Excellent" Colin exclaimed while taking another picture. Seamus had a tiny smirk on his face. Harry stared up at his classmates in horror. He didn't know if he could talk. He didn't know if he wanted to talk. He didn't think he could trust his own voice. He closed his eyes and wished them all away.

Harry felt a stiff kick in the back as Ron kicked him in his sleep. He awoke with a start. There was no one staring down at them except an awaiting Hedwig. She had a letter attached to her leg. Harry leaned forward and untied the letter. It looked like it had come from a far distance away. It was addressed to: The two lovers in H. Potter's bed. He didn't know if he should open it up now, or wait for Ron to wake up. The thought never occurred to him of the addressing on the letter. He never found it odd that the person who wrote the letter knew of his relationship with Ron.

"Morning Love" Ron said in a gravely voice.

"Morning Ron." Harry replied. He quickly shoved the letter under his arse and sat on it. He didn't want to get Ron all worked up this early in the morning over something to silly about a letter. He reached over and gave his lover a chaste kiss. He started to get up and out of bed and he kicked the box that had been left there previously untouched. He reached down and picked it up. It was heavy to the touch. He began to unwrap it. Inside the wrapping was a box, but on top of the box was a note.

"Dearest Harry,

I was going through my things and I know it's risky sending this to you, but I thought you should have it. It is rightfully yours.

Your Godfather,

Sirius Black."

Harry ran his hand over the note again before setting it down. He lifted the top of the box slowly not wanting to peer inside. Once he did, a silent tear fell from his cheek. He was looking at a black leather bound book that had the words "Family Album" emblazed in gold on the front cover. He carefully pulled the book out of the carrying carton and held it carefully in his hands. He opened the cover and felt the weight of it between his fingers. He was looking at a picture of a young Sirius and a young James, both donned in their Gryffindor school robes. They were both waving at the camera, smiling with sheer joy. He turned the page and saw a young Lily. Harry wiped another tear from his cheek. He kept turning page after page, looking at the life of his young mother and father. In a way he felt that he was watching them grow up in front of his own eyes. The last page held a picture of Harry himself in Ron's arms. Ron was holding him. It was then that he realized that this picture was taken last night. They were both asleep and he realized how beautiful Ron looked when he slept. He ran his fingers over that picture and then picked up the note again. He reread it and placed it in the box. He set the photo album on the bed and sat in front of it. He flipped the pages to his favorite photo. The one of Lily and James hugging by the lake. He saw the beauty of his parent's relationship in that photo. He was so engrossed in it that he didn't even feel Ron wake up and move across the bed to him.

"Whatcha lookin' at mate?" Ron asked with sleepiness in his voice.

"Remember that box I got yesterday? Well, I opened it this morning and this was inside of it."

"Wicked Harry, do you know who it's from?"

"Yeah, that's the oddest part. It's from Sirius."

"Sirius Black? Your Godfather? But he's..."

"Dead. I know Ron. At least, we all thought he was dead." Harry said with confusion.

Ron saw the energy pass through Harry's eyes and he knew that they should tred this area with caution. Harry had just gotten past the fact that Sirius wasn't going to be around anymore. And now this. What kind of sick person would play a trick like this? Only one name came to Ron's mind. Draco Malfoy.

Draco was sitting in one of the chairs at the table, drinking out of one of the goblets. When he finished the strange tasting drink he almost flipped out when he saw the pitcher rise up and fill his glass on its own. "It's like magic." He had still not figured out how to get out of this room. Or even after that, he didn't know where he'd go once he did get out of this room. Was there even anything else after that door? He didn't know. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He continued to sit and think. There had to be a way out. There just had to be.

Harry still sat in front of the picture of his mum and dad. He couldn't take his eyes away from it. He almost didn't want to, but he knew that he needed to at some point in time. He did have classes today and he couldn't very well take the photo album to his lessons. The thought crossed his mind to skip his lessons, but he couldn't do that either. He needed to leave the book behind and go on with his day. He finally tore his eyes away from the album and got dressed. He headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He found that Ron had saved him a seat. He made his way down the long Gryffindor table. He was trying to avoid the looks from all of the first years making oogle eyes at him. He quickened his step and plopped down in the spot that his boyfriend had saved. "Morning Lo... Mate." Harry corrected himself quickly.

Ron turned a violent shade of red in his embarrassment. "Morning Harry." He replied. It was time for the post to arrive. Harry saw Hedwig fly in with the rest of the brown owls carrying letters and boxes for various students. The writing on the envelope the Hedwig dropped was familiar. It was from Professor Dumbledore. He immediately opened it up.

"Harry,

Please see me in my office immediately after breakfast. You are excused from all of your lessons today. See you soon.

Professor Dumbledore"

Harry looked up at the head table and noticed that Dumbledore wasn't there. Something serious must be pressing him if he was not to come to breakfast. He looked over at Ron and was mesmerized at the rate that he was shoveling the food into his mouth. He began to wonder if it was the fact that he got the present from Sirius. He also wondered if he should take the photo album for Dumbledore to see it. But he decided against it almost as soon as the thought came to his mind. He would want to check it for other spells and curses. Even though the truth came out about Sirius quite some time ago, he always felt that Dumbledore tried to keep him away from Harry. He didn't know if it was because the rumors were still going around, or if it was because of something more serious. But it didn't matter now, Sirius was dead and nothing was bringing him back.

The Great Hall was starting to become barren as the morning lessons were starting to begin. The students were immersed in their own conversations. There was no specific decoration in the Great Hall this morning, even the ceiling was visible. Harry inclined his head towards Ron and gave him a sorry look. "Dumbledore needs to see me. I'll see you in the Common Room later tonight."

The look on Ron's face was starting to become more regular now. He silently gave Harry and "I love you" look with his eyes and began to shovel eggs and bacon into his mouth. He watched Harry stand and make his way to the doors. Neither Ron nor Harry noticed that Draco Malfoy had not been to breakfast that morning.

Draco was really starting to become uneasy when a plate of food appeared before him in the early morning hours. He wasn't sure if he wanted to eat it or not. The thought came to him that he might never want to leave this room. It was almost too much to believe for himself, and he was the one living through it. He knew that if he ever got out, no one would ever believe what he had witnessed here. He decided that it was worth a shot to try the food. It was the best decision he had ever made in his life. The food was absolutely delicious. The bacon and eggs disappeared quite quickly. But he was not as startled this time when his plate refilled himself. And the drink that he had been drinking all night. It was amazing. It tasted oddly like pumpkin pie, but then, he didn't remember what pumpkin pie tasted like. He found the taste quite delectable. After he had finished eating, he had wished for something to read to occupy his time, when all of the sudden a series of bookshelves appeared on the left wall. This was amazing.

The hallways were empty as Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office. He stood before the gargoyle and realized that he didn't know Dumbledore's new password. "Raspberry Tart Jam" a voice said behind him. The gargoyle leapt aside and the stairs starting turning upward. Dumbledore stepped onto the stairs and turned and looked at Harry waiting for him to join him. Harry stepped onto the stairs and quietly rode them upwards. Once inside Dumbledore's inner office, Harry was told to take a seat.

"Harry, my boy. I have some news that I need to share with you. I'm not quite sure how you will take this as your emotions have been changing ever so much these past couple of days. But I have been to the Ministry of Magic and just found this out and once I tell you, I'm sure you will see why I can not have kept this a secret from you."

The paintings on the wall all looked to Harry for a response. He sat up in his chair and tried his best for the news that he had been waiting for. They had found Sirius' body and he was indeed dead. "I'm ready professor." Harry said with unease.

"First of all, I am quite pressed to tell you that as the Order has been going through the ministry quite feverishly to find all of the damage that had been done during the recent battle there. Unfortunately we came across the body of your Godfather."

Before Dumbledore could continue, Harry burst into tears. He began sobbing uncontrollably. His worst fear had come true. He had no family at all that he could go and stay with over the summer. He had to go back to the Dursley's.

"Harry, please let me finish. Although I have given you the bad news first, there is some good news that I wish you share with you. You see Harry, in looking for your Godfather, we have also located one of Lily's parents. You have a grandmother who is still alive Harry. Although, she is a..."

The excitement in the room could not be matched by even the best quidditch game in history. Harry burst out of his chair with such force that Dumbledore almost fell out of his chair. "I have a grandmother? You mean, she's alive? Voldemort didn't kill her?"

"Harry, please calm down. No, Voldemort did not kill your grandparents. Well, he did not kill Lily's parents. He could not find them before he killed your parents. But you must know Harry that she is a muggle."

"I don't care if she's a muggle," He was ecstatic to find out that he didn't have to return to the Dursley's that summer. "I have a family that understands."

"Yes, she does understand about the wizarding world Harry, but she is quite unstable at this point. She has come to learn of her daughters death and the real reasons behind it. This is why I was not at breakfast this morning. I was visiting her. She was quite happy to see me, but she is still quite distraught. She wishes that you remain here over the summer, instead of going to Surrey with the Dursley's. Which I'm sure they will be quite happy to receive my owl tomorrow stating that will not be returning there for the summer."

"I'm staying here for the summer?" Harry asked not believing what he had just heard.

"Yes Harry, you are staying here for the summer. Of course, if that's ok with you." Dumbledore said with a smile playing on his lips.

"Yes, that's ok. I'd like nothing more than to stay here for the summer."

"It's set then. I will be going to the Dursley's in the future days after my owl has returned to retrieve some more of your things. I will be the only staff member here over the summer. No classes or any of the like. You can go back to your common room now Harry. I think you have some celebrating to do. I have excused Ronald Weasley from his classes today also."

The portraits on the walls were all beaming with happiness and pride when Harry stood and walked to the office door. "Thank you Professor. Thank you so much." Harry ran down the stairs and reached his Common Room in record time. He walked through the Fat Lady's portrait with one thought on his mind, "_I have a family."_


	7. Odd Happenings

**Warm Night at Hogwarts**

**Chapter 7**

**"Odd Happenings"**

**Odd Happenings**

_"I have a family!"_ Harry walked throught the Fat Lady's portrait. He hadn't even realized he'd said anything. Ron was sitting over in his favorite chair by the fireplace.

"I would be hard pressed to call them a family Harry, but they are related to you." Ron replied speaking of the Dursleys.

Without thinking Harry threw his arms around Ron's neck and pressed his lips deeply into his boyfriend's. He pulled away quickly and sat down before the light headedness would cause him to faint. "No, I have a grandmother. She's a muggle, but she was accepting of my mother when they found out that she was a witch. So it can't be all bad, right?"

"So, you're not going to the Dusrsley's to stay for the summer?" Ron asked finally digesting all of the new information.

"No, I'm not going anywhere for the summer. I'm staying here at Hogwarts this summer. I guess she just found out how my mum died. How she really died. That's why Dumbledore wasn't at breakfast this morning. He was visiting her and getting everything all set up. So I'm staying here this summer and then I can go live with her since Sirius isn't around anymore." Harry stopped to catch his breath. He was speaking faster than he had ever spoken before. He had never been this excited about anything in his life.

"Oh Harry, I'm so happy for you mate." Ron said. "Athough, I guess there won't have to be any more rescure attempts." He added turning a little bit red.

"No, no more rescuing me from the horrid Dursley's. I fancy they'll be quite excited to learn that I'm not going to be there all summer. Dumbledore is sending them an owl tomorrow to let them know that I won't be staying there this year. Oh Ron, I'm so happy."

"I can tell mate. And I'm happy for you too. Really I am. It's just that..." Ron let his sentence trail off into the mid morning day.

"What Ron?"

"Well, since you're not staying at the Dursley's, then I guess you won't be coming to the Burrow either. So when we have to leave here, I guess I won't see you until we start our next term here. I'm not going to see you for the whole summer." Ron couldn't hide his pain from Harry. It was showing deep in his eyes. It was taking everything he had not to let the tears fall. He wanted to cry into his boyfriend's arms, on his shoulder, it didn't matter. He just wanted Harry close to him right now. He crawled up into the same chair that Harry was sitting in. He sat quietly on his lap and let the tears silently fall.

The tension in the room grew ten notches when Ron sat on Harry's lap. He put his arms around his boyfriend and held him. He knew that saying something would just ruin the moment. He never thought of the fact that he wouldn't be seeing Ron over the summer now that he'd be staying at Hogwarts. He too just wanted his boyfriend to be close to him. He pulled him close and wiped Ron's tears with his thumb.

Draco sat on the floor reading a book called "Hogwarts: A History". He was utterly amazed at everything that this book told him. He never knew that there was a school that taught witchcraft and wizardry. He also never knew that there was a wizarding world. Heck, the only world he knew of was the room that he was in. He still hadn't figured out how to get out of the room, and to be quite honest, he wasn't sure if he wanted to ever leave the room. Meals suddenly appeared before him when it was time to eat, he had a constant supply of some drink that he had no clue what it was, and all the reading material he could ever ask for. This room was perfect. Except for one thing. The room didn't have a bed. He thought of how nice it would be to sleep in a bed instead of the hard floor. Suddenly a king size bed appeared out of nowhere. The sheets where a dark green and it had silver pillows for decoration. Each of the silver pillows at a dark green snake on them, and the comforter had written in sterling sliver "Slytherin". He didn't know what it meant, but he really didn't care. It was a bed. He dove into it and quickly pulled the covers up to his chin and drifted off to sleep.

The two boys awoke when they heard the other students coming into the common room. Ron quickly jumped off of Harry's lap and into the other chair. Seamus ran over to them bombarding them with questions on why they weren't in their classes all day. Harry told them that Dumbledore excused them both for personal reasons regarding Harry's family. He knew that Seamus wouldn't understand. He was asked if everything was ok and Harry gave a complimentary reply. All of the students headed off to bed and left the two new lovebirds to themselves. Before anyone could stop him, Harry stood and walked up to the dormitory and sat on his bed and found the photo album closed. He figured that Ron had closed it earlier when he came in from classes while he waited for Harry.

The book still lay on the foot of the bed. The black leather taunting him to open it. He resisted the urge for as long as he could. He opened it again to the first page and looked down at his father and his godfather. The tears stung the back of his eyes again. He couldn't say that he missed his father as much as he missed Sirius. He hadn't had the chance to get to know his father, as he had with Sirius. He knew that the rumors were still going around about Sirius but he did his best to nullify them as quickly as he heard about them. He let his fingers trace over the picture again as he lost the battle to keep his tears. The storm raging inside of him was more than he could handle. He broke down. The tears were coming in waves now, almost threatning to flood him. By the time that Ron had come up, Harry's night shirt was soaking wet with tears.

An arm reached out in the air and touched Harry on the shoulder and gave a knowing squeeze. Ron had noticed that Harry had not cried over Sirius, and he naturally assumed that he hadn't cried over the loss of his parents either. It was all he could do to stay strong for Harry, but he knew that he had to. It wouldn't do any good for him to loose it because his boyfriend was loosing it. He sat on the bed and pulled Harry into his arms. He could feel Harry give up resistance and fall into him. It broke Ron's heart to see his boyfriend this way, crumbling before his eyes. With his free hand, he reached up and brushed Harry's hair back and kissed him gently on the forehead. He let his lips remain there as a tear fell from his eye.

The silence in the dormitory was deafening. It seemed that as soon as all of the other boys came up here, they fell asleep. It must have been an extremely hard day for classes. Without saying a word, Harry tilted his head and met Ron's lips with his own. They sat sharing a kiss so intimate that not even Hermione would have understood it. Both of their eyes were closed. They were in complete oblivion, sharing eachother's love. They didn't even hear the door to the dormitory being opened. Or the hard footsteps across the stone floor leading to Harry's bed. Neither of them saw the curtains being drawn back.

Draco Malfoy awoke feeling more refreshed than he could ever remember feeling. Sitting on the table was a silver platter with crumpets and tea. He carefully made his way over to the table and picked up a crumpet. He inspected it and then sniffed it. He knew that it wouldn't case him any harm, but he was just being careful. He took a bite and his knees went weak. These were even better than the breakfast he ate eariler that day. The tea was already sweetened to his liking and the meal was simply amazing. Although he could hardly call that a meal, maybe just a snack. He ate his fill and then picked up a new book. He sat staring at the cover of people riding around on broomsticks throwing some kind of ball around. He thought he was going crazy, it seemed that the people in the picture were moving. He opened the book and read aloud, "Quidditch Through the Ages".

Harry awoke feeling more restless and tired than he did the night before when he fell asleep. He also felt empty. He reached over and grabbed his glasses off of his night table and put them on. When his eyes adjusted to the morning light, he realized that Ron wasn't in bed with him. Harry scrambled to get out of bed to check over in Ron's bed but he hit is foot on something sitting at the end ot it. He automatically recoiled his foot as close to his body as he could and held the toe that collided with the object. He looked at the foot of his bed and saw another package. He leaned over to pick it up, but he couldn't get enough leverage to hoist it up on his lap. It was too heavy to do anything with. He lifted himself on top of the covers and crawled down to the box. It was in the same type of wrapping that the photo album came in. He carefully untied the rope twine and laid it out on all four sides of the box. It seemed like it was taunting him. Almost begging him to open it as soon as he could. He reached down and carefully pulled the paper down from one side. He didn't want to know what it was. He closed his eyes and unwrapped the rest of the box. He slowly opened up one eye and saw that the box was made of metal. On the top, there was a key attached to it. He pried the key off and put it in the lock. He slowly turned it and heard the locking mechanism click. He lifted the top and peered inside. Inside the box was full of unopened letter, all adressed to one Harry Potter. The envelopes had no address on them since whoever wrote them didn't know where to send them. The letters seemed to be growing out of the box. _How many letters are in here? _Harry thought to himself. He sat there and watched the pile grow to amazing heights. One letter fell at his lap. **To H. Potter.** Harry flipped it over and saw that so far this letter seemed the oldest. There was no seal holding it together, just some sort of adhesive that was the back of the flap. He opened it carefully. On the inside of the flap there was a note. "**In the beginning I knew I wouldn't see you. But you had to know of my love. So these are the many letters I wrote to my grandson. I just hope you will get to read them one day. Love, Grandma."**


	8. White Lies and Even Bigger Secrets

**"Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

**Chapter 8**

**"White Lies and Even Bigger Secrets"**

**White Lies and Even Bigger Secrets**

"Love Grandma?" Harry said to himself. He had only heard of his having a grandmother only yesterday, and he was already receiving post from her. 16 years worth of post in one day. He knew he wouldn't have all the time he needed to read all of these, but he carefully pulled out the frail letter that was inside the tattered envelope.

"Dearest Harry,

It is with warm greetings that I write to you this letter. Lily told me only yesterday that she would be having a son. Although, they rushed off earlier this morning to St. Mungo's for Magical Maladies and Injuries, I knew it would be any moment I would receive post stating your birth. I knew from the moment that my dear Lily shared those words with me that I already loved you. I can't wait to meet you Harry.

With Eternal Love,

Poppy Evans"

The letter began to shake in Harry's hand. He now noticed that his whole body was shaking. His reality came crashing down on him in less than 5 minuets. His whole life was a lie. From the moment he was born, till he heard that his parents were in a fatal car accident, all of his years at Hogwarts. Most of all, his needing to stay with the Dursley's. Thoughts began invading his mind; _Are my parents still alive? Can I see my grandmum? Is she even still alive? _Harry didn't want to think of all of the answers to these questions. But he wondered now, why was it ok for his grandmum to send him these letters now? Voldemort still had not been captured and it seemed that he was as strong now, as when he died. Harry threw himself back onto his bed and closed his eyes.

The time passed and it was dark outside before he heard anyone else join him in the boy's dormitory. Harry once again felt his bed shifting as another body joined him. "What's up, Mate?" Ron asked.

"Nothing. I was just reading something. But I'm not sure about it. I mean, I got this box with all these letters from my grandmum. There are hundreds of them. I don't know where to begin."

"Well, it looks like you've already begun." Ron reached over and picked up the open letter by Harry's side. He skimmed over it quickly then laid it back down. He looked over at the box with the mountain of envelops piling out of it. Was he imagining it, or was that pile still continuing to grow. He looked back and Harry and realized how cute he looked when he looked defeated. It wasn't a look that he saw very often, but it was so damn adorable. "Hey, I've got an idea." Ron withdrew his wand and muttered "Littera Sorte"

The envelopes began flying on their own, going into different piles. It seemed that they were separating themselves by years. This was going to make reading them a whole lot easier.

Harry stole a glance at Ron and marveled in the smile that he was giving. He loved it when Ron was able to come up with an answer that he could not. It made him proud to say that Ron Weasley was his boyfriend. Not that he didn't feel proud to say that at any other time. But Ron could be a klutz sometimes, and he knew it as well. He leaned over and pressed a deep kiss on Ron's lips. He felt his tongue gently ask permission to enter his mouth, which he immediately granted.

Draco closed the book that he had just finished. He sat staring at the cover once again, watching the people in the photo move about throwing the quaffle around. He stood up and his hand immediately went to his back. It ached. There was a throbbing in his arse and he knew it was from sitting so long on the floor. He gently rubbed it and walked over to the table. He smiled when he saw a plate full of meat and some white fluffy things. The meat had brown gravy on top of it. It smelled delicious. He quickly sat down and began eating He was right. It was delicious. It seemed that each meal was getting better and better. He didn't know how this could be possible, but then a lot of things were happening right now that he couldn't explain. Like how things would mysteriously appear and disappear. Or how the pitchers would float on their own and refill his drinking goblet. There was something funny going on here, and he decided that he was going to figure out what it was.

The lanterns were all lit in the Gryffindor Common Room. The students were haphazardly sitting and fighting off sleep as their exams were coming up soon. Every now and then, you would see a young Gryffindor smack himself awake and return to the book that they found monotonously boring. The light playfully danced off of the colours on the walls. When looked at from an angle, the Gryffindor Lion seemed to be opening its mouth and yawing in this late hour.

Hermione Granger sat alone by the fireplace reading a thick book for "light reading". Her studying was done for the night. It was her time to relax. She let out an audible sigh and closed the book. She couldn't stop thinking about Harry and Ron. How their relationship had grown to what it is now and how she was still alone. She felt the natural stinging of tears welling up in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Now was not the time to be reveling in bad feelings. Although she could not stop thinking of how her break up with Viktor Krum had left them both heartbroken. She lay her head back in the chair and was immediately asleep.

The crimson sheets were in a state of disarray, thrown haphazardly all over the bed. The two half naked boys lying in their midst, both covered in sweat. Harry lay with his head on Ron's chest listening to his heartbeat. There was no better feeling that than of being held by the one that you love. Ron's hand gently traced light circles on Harry's back. He would lean down and kiss the top of Harry's head and then sigh in his euphoric state. Their first time was amazing for both of them. Neither had imagined it to be so good, but now they were glad that they had waited until it just happened, rather than planning the event. It was a showing of pure love between them. Neither of them knowing what to expect next during the ordeal. "I love you Ron" Harry said.

"I love you too Harry." Ron replied. He had heard several boys come into their dormitory while they were lying there, but he didn't care anymore. Their love had been made concrete between them. He heard Seamus' voice from the other side of the curtain talking about something or other that was really unimportant to him. He leaned down again, and kissed Harry's head. He loved feeling like this. Feeling so loved in return. Finally, after all these years, Harry was like him, and Harry did like him. The thought still sinking in, even after all this time. Ron was about to say something when Hedwig peered inside the bed and blinked several times, looking at the boys.

Harry reached over and opened the curtain just enough to allow her entrance and untied the letter that was attached to her foot. "It's addressed you Ron."

Ron sat up quickly remembering that he told his mom that he could use Hedwig if she needed to get a hold of him if something was important. He carefully took the letter from Harry and started at it before opening it. It was a full minute before he realized that it wasn't a Howler. He opened the letter and read aloud

"Ron,

Your father and I will be visiting you and Harry tomorrow. There are some things that we must discuss about Harry's whereabouts for the summer. See you then.

Love,

Mom"

"What does she mean my whereabouts for the summer?" Harry asked?

"I think Dumbledore might have told them that you will be staying here with him. So they might be brining some of your stuff that you left at the Burrow."

"Oh" Harry said as if that was all the explanation he needed.

Both boys sat back wondering what else his parents visiting could be about. Neither of them suspected the real reason. And neither of them would see the worry etched in Arthur's face when he greeted them in the Great Hall.


	9. Coming Clean Part 1

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

**Chapter 9**

"**Coming Clean Part 1"**

**Coming Clean Pt.1**

The castle was still dark at this early hour of the morning. Students and teachers were still snug in their beds, oblivious to their surroundings. The school ghosts could be seen every now and then roaming the halls in a sleepwalk fashion. Harry and Ron were walking down the stairs silently. Harry cautiously reached his hand out and grabbed Ron's in assurance that everything would be OK. Ron looked over at Harry with pleading eyes. Harry knew that he wanted to go back upstairs and go to bed and just forget this whole thing was happening; he wanted to forget the letters, the photo album, and most of all, he wanted to forget the letter from his mum.

The two boys walked quietly to the Great Hall. Anyone who would have stumbled upon them would have noticed the tension from three corridors away. One would instantly think that these two boys had done something so severe that they could only be punished by the headmaster himself. As soon as the two boys reached the bottom of the staircase, the stairs behind them immediately took flight and changed direction. As the two forged ahead, Ron turned around and watched the staircase move. How he longed to be at the top of those stairs right now heading in the opposite direction.

Harry put his arm around Ron and pulled him to him. He rested his head on Ron's shoulder as he slowed his step. They reached the doors to the Great Hall and Harry lifted his head to look at Ron. He solemnly whispered, "I love you." He reached out and placed his hand on the door and he felt Ron's hand on top of his.

"I love you too," Ron said.

Harry pulled open the doors and peered inside. The inside of the Great Hall was empty save for the two adults sitting at the long Gryffindor table. It was early enough that the ceiling was not enchanted yet. The two boys swiftly made their way to where the adults were sitting. Their robes began swaying with the small amounts of wind that they were creating behind them.

"Hi Mum, hi Dad," Ron said as they arrived at the table. "How was your trip?"

"The trip was fine son. How are you boys this morning?" Arthur said.

"Tired," mumbled Harry.

"Yeah, tired," agreed Ron.

"Well, that's understandable. But there are some things that we need to discuss about this summer. We'd better start now," Molly piped in.

"Ok Mum, what do you want to talk about?" Ron asked.

"Well dear, it seems that we've gotten word that Harry is to stay here over the summer with Professor Dumbledore. With that being said, there will be no need to rescue him. Thank Merlin for that. But the question I have for Harry is, what do you want done with the stuff that you brought to the Burrow last summer?"

Harry thought about that for a moment. He wasn't really sure what he wanted done with his things. He just always thought of letting them be and then when their time was done at Hogwarts that he would be going back there and living with Ron for the rest of their lives. "I don't know, Mrs. Weasley. I just thought that I would leave them there, but only if that's alright with you."

"Yes, dear, that's fine. But I must object once again to you calling me Mrs. Weasley. I'm not old and decrepit, am I?"

Harry immediately shook his head. She was not old, and she was sure not decrepit. But he still didn't feel comfortable calling her Molly let alone, call her Mum.

"Ok, with that issue resolved, I'm wondering if there is anything you boys wish to tell us."

"What do you mean Mum?" Ron asked.

The Great Hall became suddenly silent. Harry reached his hand under the table and gave Ron's a reassuring squeeze while waiting for her to answer.

"Well boys, it seems that we have received several owls about you in the past weeks. We were just wondering if everything is ok."

"Yeah, we're ok. Dumbledore excused me from some classes because he figured that Harry would want someone to talk to about him now having a grandmum and all that. But other than that," Ron squeezed Harry's hand in return, "nothing's wrong. In fact, things are almost better now than they have ever been."

"What do you mean son?" Arthur asked.

Before Ron could answer his dad, the doors to the Great Hall opened with a loud whoosh of air. Harry expected to be swarmed by students coming in for their morning meal but was rather surprised to see Professor Dumbledore walking up to them.

"Good morning Molly, Arthur," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Good morning Professor," replied Molly.

"Morning Albus. Is everything ok?" Arthur replied and asked.

"Yes, yes, everything is fine. But I see that you four have wasted no time in starting this morning's meeting without me. Good," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, well why should we have waited? You said nothing in your owl that you would be attending this meeting," Arthur said.

"I suppose you're right, Arthur. I just figured that with these two boys that some guidance might be needed."

"Guidance?" Harry and Ron asked at the same time.

"No time for explanations now, boys. But I think that you four should take this conversation to the Burrow at once. It is almost time for the other students to be getting their morning meal and I wouldn't want such an important conversation wasted on ignorant prying ears."

Harry sat looking dumbfounded at his headmaster. Before he could think of anything else, Ron was up and at the door running out of it. He was on his way to the main entrance and out the door.

Harry stood and followed his boyfriend out the door. By the time he caught up with him, Ron was almost half way to Hogsmede.

"YOU BOYS SLOW DOWN THIS INSTANT!" They heard Molly scream from behind them.

Ron slowed his pace down to a jog and Harry matched his pace. "Do you think they know, mate?"

"Know what?" Harry asked out of breath.

"Know about us, you git."

"I don't know. I mean, I think Dumbledore might know, but I don't think he would have told them in a letter. Do you?"

Ron stopped dead in his tracks. He hadn't even thought of that possibility. His parents had said that they had received many owls about them over the past couple of weeks, when their friendship was slowly becoming so much more. "Well, he could have. You don't think he would have, do you?"

Harry stopped along side Ron and thought about this for a moment. "No, even that seems a bit to cruel, even for Snape. So I don't think Dumbledore would have. He probably just told them that we have something to tell them, and then, like he always does, waits for us to say something."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

br 

Hermione woke up still in the Gryffindor Common Room, pains shooting down her neck from sleeping on it the wrong way. She looked around to find many first years still bent over their textbooks with small puddles of drool smudging the ink. Every now and then, a small snore would escape out of someone's mouth and reach her ears. _Something's not right. _Hermione thought to herself. She found Seamus and asked him to go and get Harry and Ron.

"They're not here, Hermione."

"What do you mean they aren't here?"

"They said something about having to meet Ron's parents in the Great Hall this morning. I don't know what it's about though. They kept everything very hush hush. Kind of worries me really. I hope everything is ok."

"I'm sure it is," Hermione replied. _But what if it's not?_

"Oh Hermione, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I know you're good friends with Harry and…" Seamus paused.

"And what Seamus?"

"Well, I was wondering if you knew something about Harry."

"I know a lot of things about Harry. Anything specific you wish to know?"

Seamus kicked his feet around silently protesting against himself for bringing this up. "Well, you see, I was wondering if… Well, Harry's kind of… Oh Hell, Hermione, do you know if Harry's gay?"

Hermione stared open mouthed at him. She could not believe that he was asking her this question.

"Seamus, I know a lot of things about Harry, but I don't think that is my place to say anything about that."

"I understand. But if he is, could you tell him that I like him?"

"YOU'RE GAY?" Hermione screamed across the Common Room waking up several students.

Seamus' face turned bright pink, then red, then fuchsia, then deep crimson. "Yes, Hermione, I'm gay. IS THAT ALRIGHT WITH YOU?"

"Yes, that's fine. I don't see what the big deal is anyways. I mean, it's just that you like boys rather than girls."

"Hermione, could you say that any louder? I don't think the Slytherins heard you."

It was now Hermione's turn to blush. "I'm sorry, Seamus."

"Yeah, well you should be."

"Seamus, don't make me do this."

"Do what? You can't do anything to me."

Hermione jumped out of the chair standing straight up. She said in a harsh whisper, "Ten points from Gryffindor for being an inconsiderate ass." With that she turned sharply on her heels and made her way down to the Great Hall to get some much needed breakfast.

br 

The streets of Hogsmede were empty. The only sound that could be heard was the wind that was steadily blowing around the buildings. Through the cloud of dust, four figures could be seen making their way into the town, their capes flowing in the wind and their shoes making little sounds as they pad against the hard earth beneath them. The deafening silence of the town gave it an eerie effect. They made their way into The Three Broomsticks.

Bypassing all of the patrons of the bar, the four travelers made their way over to the fireplace. Each grabbed a handful of powder and one by one, stepping inside and saying very clearly, "THE BURROW". Green flames rose from beneath them and engulfing them in a fiery blaze as they spun down into the flooring and then, out of sight. As soon as one was gone, the next stepped in and repeated the process until all four anonymous travelers had disappeared.

br 

Draco stood in the center of the room, looking around. The silence was having an unnerving effect on him. He longed for someone to talk to, someone he could spend some time with, or just to hear another voice. Immediately a small creature appeared in front of him with a loud CRACK. It stood about two feet tall and had enormous ears that rose high above his head. He was wearing a thin white piece of paper on his head and had very colourful socks that did not match. "Sir wishes to speak with someone?"

"Wh- Who are you?" Draco stammered.

"My name is Dobby, sir."

"Wh- What are you?"

"You mean to say that you don't remember me?"

"How can I remember you if I've never met you before?

Dobby looked around the room and saw a goblet full of pumpkin juice on the table. He walked over to it and climbed on the chair and then onto the table. He picked up the goblet and sniffed it's contents. It seemed OK. "You really don't remember me, sir?"

"No, how can I?"

Dobby let out a huge laugh. He started dancing on top of the table with glee. He saw a huge opportunity before him, but he was unsure if he should take it. Just the thoughts going through his head made him feel he needed to punish himself. He proceeded to bang his head on the table.

"Stop. Dobby, stop that." Draco ran over to him and grabbed Dobby's head. _What is he thinking banging his head like that? Is that how he got so ugly?_

"Sorry sir, I was just thinking something I shouldn't and had to punish myself for it."

"What were you thinking?"

"No, I can't answer that sir. I'm sorry, but Dobby is sworn to secrecy regarding one Harry Potter."

At the sound of Harry's name, Draco visibly winced. _Why does that name sound so familiar?_ "Dobby, do you know who I am?"

"Yes, how can Dobby forget?"

"What do you mean?"

Without answering him, Dobby jumped off of the table, throwing himself onto the floor. He pounded his head into the cement.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP THAT, YOU STUPID GIT!" Draco screamed.

"Yes, sir." Dobby cringed out of old habits.

"Why do you listen to everything I say?"

"Because sir, you told me before if I didn't, you would…" Dobby trailed off trembling.

"I would what?"

"You would kill me."

"When did I say this? I don't remember saying this."

"It was seven years ago, before you started at Hogwarts."

Draco's face lit up. "I read a book about that place. Where is it?"

Dobby jerked in alarm. Before he would answer him he left the room with a loud CRACK.

br 

Three Weasleys and one Potter sat at the kitchen table in The Burrow. Four pairs of eyes were feverishly scanning the room, purposely not making contact with each other. If one were to look in the window of this house they would see two parents and two teenage boys secretly holding hands beneath the table.

"Why did Dumbledore want us to come here Mum?" asked Ron.

"He feels that there are other things that we need to discuss. Would either of you two know what those things would be?"

Harry could feel the heat rising to his face. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop it. "Ron, let's just tell them."

Arthur ignored Harry's statement toward his son and, remembering what Ron said earlier, asked him, "Ron, why is it that things are better now than ever before?"

"Because I'm in love," Ron said before he had the chance to think about what he was saying.

Molly Weasley jumped up in excitement. "Oh my goodness, Arthur! Our dear boy is in love!" Molly squealed in delight as she turned to face Ron. "So who is she? Who's the lucky girl?"

Ron and Harry looked at each other, gazing deep into each other's eyes. The meaning obvious to anyone who wished to see it.

"Oh," Molly said knowingly.

Arthur looked to Molly for some sign of what was going on. "What is it, Molly dear?"

br 

Petunia Dursley woke with a feeling of suspense. She didn't know why she had this feeling, but something was going to happen today that she knew would change her life. She looked over at the still sleeping Vernon and her horse face drew tight in disgust. _I can only put up with this for so long. _She started when he began to snore again. Quite loudly at that. _How can anyone sleep through that rubbish?_ She grimaced and moved toward her side of the bed and stepped out. She put on her day clothes and walked downstairs.

The morning light was pouring through the kitchen window. An owl was sitting on the window sill. When she saw it, she gave a slight smile. _Did that owl just wink at me? I swear, things are getting weirder and weirder each day. I love this time of morning. All is quiet and I'm finally alone._ She walked over to the window and opened it a bit. The owl gave a tiny hoot and lifted it's leg. Petunia reached down, and with a bone thin hand, took the letter quickly. She opened it, and saw only two words. Two words that scared her half to death. "**_It's time."_** She put the letter into her back pocket and then walked nervously to the refrigerator to gather the things she would need for breakfast.

br 

Hermione sat in the middle of her Potions final. Without knowing why, she sat straight up in class and laughed uproariously. She didn't know why she felt so giddy, but it seemed as if a weight was about to be lifted off of her chest.

"Would you mind sharing what you find so amusing, Miss Granger?" Severus Snape said from the front of the classroom. The sneer obvious in his voice.

"If I knew, I would tell you," Hermione snapped back, surprising herself as well as everyone else in the class as she lowered her head back down to the exam. She dipped her quill into the ink and began writing again.

br 

The air was still and each breath that was heard was labored. Molly's hand went to her mouth quickly. "Well, this isn't what I expected, but I must say that I am very happy for you Ronald."

Arthur piped in confused, "What? What's going on?"

Scared of his father's reaction, Ron hung his head.

"Ron and I are in love, Mr. Weasley," Harry said.

"You both found girls? How exciting. Good show, boys."

br 

Petunia, standing at the stove, frying pan in hand, stiffened. Looking up sharply, she gazed into the distance and heard something. "Harry," She whispered.

br 

Harry, mustering up all the strength in his being, says, "No, sir. Ron and I are in love. With each other."

br 

The sound of the pan hitting the floor shook Petunia out of her daze. _Finally!_ The smile on her face was wiped away when she heard her large husband walking down the stairs to the kitchen.

"What's all that ruckus?" Vernon bellowed.

"Nothing dear. It's nothing. Bit of grease popped me on the hand and I dropped the pan. I'll get it cleaned up and have your breakfast for you in a flash."

"Make it quick. I have a meeting this morning that I can't be late for," Vernon said, before disappearing behind his morning paper.

"Yes dear," Petunia replied. The smile slowly crept back onto her face.

br 

Draco, still pondering that odd creature named Dobby, walked the length of the room. Once he reached the wall on the left side, a door magically appeared before him. He jumped back in fright with a yell. The door disappeared.

br 

Hermione dropped her quill.

"Is everything all right, Miss Granger?" Snape sneered.

"Did I say anything wasn't alright?"

"TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR FOR BEING FRESH"

Hermione picked up her quill as a smile came to her face and she returned to the parchment in front of her.

br 

"You're…what's that word?" Arthur asked.

"Gay dear? The word is gay," Molly replied helpfully

"I thought gay meant happy. Not that you boys aren't happy, it's just… Well, I don't understand." Arthur frowned, perplexed. Arthur got up and looked out the window towards the garden. He let out an audible sigh and went to the door. He turned around to see the boys and Molly still sitting, watching his every move. He walked out the door to contemplate this new revelation in his life.

The silence grew quickly around the three at the table. The boys were growing visibly nervous, wondering if Arthur was going to be OK with this.

"Oh, pay him no mind. He'll be alright, boys. So, when did this happen?" Molly excitedly questioned. "You must tell me everything."

The boys shared a look that said, _Well, not EVERYTHING_.


	10. Coming Clean Part 2

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

"**Chapter 10"**

"**Coming Clean Part 2"**

A/N: First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone who reads this story. It has taken me quite some time to write this chapter, and through many hardships, this chapter has still gotten done. I must admit, I had quite a bit of it done, almost a month ago, but my computer crashed, I lost everything except the first section. So, let me say thank you to Eba for not getting rid of the email that I sent to him.

Also, huge thank you's go out to Christy and Ashley and Susan. Christy has spent many hours with me regarding this chapter in getting everything just right. And a thank you to Ashley for taking the much needed time to beta this story. Susan, for the numerous ideas that you have put into my head for this story. You are and always will be my Hermione! As common knowledge states that I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS! HARRY POTTER, RONALD WEASLEY, PETUNIA DURSLEY, MOLLY WEASLEY, VERNON DURSLEY, ARTHUR WEASLEY, AND HERMIONE GRANGER BELONG TO J.K. ROWLING AND WARNER BROTHERS.

**Coming Clean Pt. 2**

The two boys finished telling Molly of how they came to find out that the other was gay. Each had their own moments of surprise. Harry, when Ron had told his mum about him having a talk with Hermione in the Room of Requirements, and Ron when Harry had told Molly about seeing him for the first time during their first year when Ron had decided to sacrifice himself during their live game of Wizard Chess. With each confession, Molly squealed with delight and clapped her hands together.

A shadow appeared in the doorway. Arthur stood there staring in at the three people sitting in the room.

"Everything all right dear?" Molly asked him.

Arthur ignored his wife's question and walked over to his son. He stared down at him for a moment and then grabbed him by the front of his robes and pulled him up, out of the chair that he was in. He stood there, looking at his son for a moment. He put his arms around his son and pulled him into a deep embrace. A tear quietly escaped him and dripped onto Ron's robes. "No matter what, Ronald Bilbus Weasley, I love you. Remember that, OK?"

"Yes dad." Ron replied, "I love you too."

Arthur put his son back down in the chair and looked over at Harry. No words were coming to him at this moment. He walked over to him and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and asked him to stand up.

Harry stood, his knees shaking on the inside of his robes. He had never been so scared in his life. Not even when he faced Voldemort in his first year at Hogwarts. "Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

"No more of this Mr. Weasley stuff. Call me dad now. Welcome to the family son."

Harry stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face. He didn't know what to say, so he decided that saying nothing was better than mucking everything up. He reached out and embraced Arthur tightly. "Thank you" he whispered. "Thank you for loving me."

Ron put his hand on his mothers shoulder to calm her erratic sobbing, and she pulled him into a deep familial embrace.

BR 

Petunia Dursley sat at the kitchen table drinking her morning tea and reading the daily paper. Her thin boney fingers were stroking a wooden box that sat next to her, running along the top, then down the side, and back up. She was torn from her reading of the paper by a tapping on the window. The familiar snowy white bird stood on the window sill holding her leg out with a letter attached. "Hedwig," she said as she stood up quickly, spilling some of her tea on the table. She quickly made her way over to the window and opened it, allowing the bird to come inside. She reached out and untied the letter and briskly walked over to the cupboards and pulled out a small tin that was hidden behind the healthy items. She pulled out a few of the owl treats that Harry had left in his hurry to leave the house and gave them to the bird. She then quickly stuffed the tin back up in its hiding spot and sat down at the table and ripped open the envelope.

"Aunt Petunia,

We will be visiting today around 4 PM. We have very pressing news that needs to be discussed today. Please make sure that Uncle Vernon is also in attendance.

Sincerely,

Harry"

Petunia dropped the letter as her hand tightened on the box. She looked up at the clock and saw that it was only 10:00 in the morning. As Hedwig flew out number 4 Privet Drive, Petunia brought her body to its full frame. She held the box under her arm and briskly walked to the stairs. Her eyes quickly scanned the hallway and she began to prepare for her nephew's arrival.

BR 

Harry and Ron sat at the breakfast table quietly eating while sneaking peeks at each other. Molly was busying herself doing minor household chores. She kept stealing glances at the boys and smiling to herself. She had never seen her son so happy before, and it made her spirit sing with happiness to see him this way. She looked up through the window and saw the garden gnomes starting to begin their antics. She pulled out her wand and headed out the door. "YOU GARDEN GNOMES SETTLE DOWN! I SAID…"

Harry took this chance to give his boyfriend a kiss. The food had long been finished and they sat looking at each other. Harry reached out and took Ron's hands in his. He could feel a slight but prominent tremble in them. "What's wrong love?"

"What do you mean Harry?" Ron replies clueless.

"I can feel you trembling. Tell me what's wrong."

Ron got up and began walking around the long table. By the time that he had reached the end of his side, the room was already filled with silence. He rounded the corners and made his way back up the other side. He passed the kitchen door and Molly could be seen outside still chasing an unruly garden gnome. Ron turned his back to the door and placed his hands on the table and gently leaned onto it. "I have to tell you mate, I'm really nervous about this afternoon and your family."

Harry placed his hand over Ron's and looked deeply into his fretful brown eyes. "You have nothing to worry about because I will be there to protect you. Today isn't about their approval Ron, it's just for their information." Harry quickly gave Ron's hand a little squeeze of reassurance. He could see all of the tension and worry drain from Ron's body. He gave a smile that made Ron shudder.

BR 

All things are calm in the garden; Molly made her way back up to the house. She crossed the garden and quietly stepped into the doorway.

"You have nothing to worry about because I will be there to protect you. Today isn't about their approval Ron, it's just for their information." Harry said to Ron. She could see all of the tension leave her son's body. She also saw the look on Harry's face as he was saying this. The love in his eyes was radiant along with the green. _Oh Merlin, with one look, Harry calmed the fears of two Weasley's this morning._ Without really realizing that the fear had even been on her mind, Molly was relieved to know that both boys were serious about each other. The love shining from Harry's face touched Molly as she watched its affect on her son.

_Arthur does that for me with just a few words, too_

The tension that had radiated off her son most of the morning had melted away. With a small sniff and brisk manner, she cleared her throat and entered the kitchen, reaching for a tissue off the table to dry her eyes. "Well now, how about a nice cut of tea?"

Ron, hearing his mother's voice, tensed up again. Harry squeezed his hand again and gave him a reassuring look. Ron grinned and relaxed. Ron moved back around the table to Harry's side and they held hands under the table.

BR 

Petunia was tiding up the house half heartedly as her mind was on is on the coming meeting. Her eyes were repeatedly drawn to the wall clock as she moved from room to room. _Things must be perfect for this visit_. She had just checked to make sure that Harry's room was locked up so no one could get into it if they try. The furniture in the sitting room was appropriately rearranged for today's meeting. She now had Vernon's chair away from the fireplace and the table by the loveseat that was against the wall. The middle of the room was empty. Petunia carefully picked up the kitchen table and drug it into the sitting room. She got it placed where she wanted it in front of the fireplace; she made her way into the kitchen to make sure that the food was coming along nicely.

The kitchen had never been so dirty before today. Petunia was using every appliance that she had to make all of the snacks. She walked into the kitchen and gave a small sigh as she knew that there were still 2 hours until her nephew would be arriving with someone. She reached into the front pocket of her apron and then shook her head no. She withdrew her hand and opened the oven door to see that the sugar cookies were just beginning to rise up. She went over to the counter and checked on the dough. It also was beginning to rise, but it would still be a bit before she would need to knead the dough. She mulled around in the kitchen for a bit longer than went to sit down in the sitting room from every angle to make sure that every place gave a good view of the fireplace. She took a rest and stared at the blank TV. Her life was changing just as she had always wanted it to, but it wasn't happening soon enough.

BR 

Hermione Granger made her way up to the Gryffindor common room. She had just finished her last final for the year and dreadfully missed her two best friends by her side. She wanted to share this moment with them, just as she wanted to share with them what happened during the Potions final. She still could not believe that she had snapped at Professor Snape like that. It was something that she had never thought she would ever do, but the urge to laugh was so strong that she had to give in to it. She carefully stepped through the Fat Lady's Portrait and went over to the fireplace. She had remembered all the nights that she would wake up to find Harry here just staring into the darkness, almost begging his Godfather Sirius to come through and talk to him.

She sat down on the chair that was normally Ron's and the thoughts came back of her watching one of their first kisses. To this day, she still hadn't told anyone about that night, she hadn't even told Ron or Harry. She wanted to tell them what she saw, but she was afraid that they would get upset at her for spying on them. She wasn't intentionally spying on them though. She had woken up and could not go back to sleep. She was going to go to the common room to watch the fire and hope that it would make her tired again. When she came to the bottom of the stairs, she stopped because she heard a voice. It was Ron's. He was saying something to Harry, who looked like he was falling asleep where he sat. It was then that it happened. She saw Ron lean down and kiss Harry's forehead, and then furthered his kiss to Harry's mouth. She knew that they were gay, and that they were dating, but seeing this was an entirely different thing. She thought it was cute that her two best friends were so happy. Hermione had been worried about Harry for a while now, because she knew that it must be hard to always be in the spotlight, and to never have any privacy. She silently hoped that Harry would soon find love or something that would cause him to be happy.

A loud crack from the fireplace pulled her out of her reverie. She looked up at the Gryffindor Crest on the wall and was immediately pulled back into another one. She saw in her mind Harry and Ron standing under the crest arguing. It seemed that Ron had not shown up somewhere that he was supposed to. She slowly fell into the memory and let it overtake her.

FLASHBACK

"I thought we agreed to meet tonight Ron, where were you?" Harry asked still out of breath from running across the castle.

"I was sitting here. I thought it was tomorrow night Harry, I'm really sorry." Ron replied while shifting in his chair uncomfortably.

Harry sighed and plopped down into his own chair and looked over at Ron. "I just don't see how you forgot about it, that's all."

"Harry, you know my memory."

"You're right Ron, maybe I should just leave a note on your forehead telling you when our meeting times are." Harry said. He was visibly getting angry, even though he told himself he would not.

"That's not fair Harry, and you know it's not."

"No, what's not fair is that I have been waiting all week to be able to talk to you without anyone listening in, and that one shot was ruined because you forgot about it. There's things that I really want to tell you Ron." Harry sighed again. He knew in his mind that there was no reason for him to be blowing this out of proportion like he was, he just couldn't help it.

Ron lowered his head in his hands. "I'm sorry Harry. Really, I am."

Harry looked around the common room and saw that no one else was there. He stood up and pulled Ron out of his chair and walked to the table under the crest. He picked up a goblet of warm pumpkin juice and gave it to Ron. He picked one up for himself. "I know you're sorry Ron, but we have to do something about your memory." He took a drink of the juice and smiled.

Ron sighed and took a drink from the goblet that Harry had handed him and looked up into Harry's green eyes. "I know love, and believe me, I want to. I don't know what I can do though."

Harry thought about that for a while but still came with nothing. He didn't know what he could do to help Ron's memory at all. He didn't want to use a spell, but he knew of nothing else, so he kept his mouth shut.

Hermione again could not sleep. She came down the stairs as the two boys were arguing in the chairs. She was now glad to see that they had worked out their differences and were now getting along. She suddenly felt tired again and made her way back up the stairs.

END FLASHBACK

Hermione sighed with the memories that were coming to her now. She still longed to be with her two best friends, but she knew that she couldn't. She sat in her chair and began to think of many of the times that they had shared together.

BR 

Harry got up from the table and quickly regarded Molly "I would love some tea Mrs. Weasley, but I have to make sure that everything is ready for this afternoon. Thank you though." With that said, Harry turned and quickly walked up the stairs to Ron's bedroom. He knew that he didn't bring anything with him, but he thought that he'd better give Ron and Molly some time alone.

In the kitchen, Ron still sat at the table and quietly watched his mother. He knew he wanted to ask how much she had heard, but whenever he tried to talk, his throat would shut on him and he couldn't speak. He just sat and stared at her for quite some time before she took a seat at the table. "You know dear, I'm glad to see that you and Harry are taking this whole thing with his aunt and uncle seriously."

"Wha- what do you mean mum?" Ron stammered.

"Just that you two boys know the seriousness of your relationship together. I know that you two have liked each other for a long time, thanks to last night, but you're not running into this carefree. You're really being adult about it."

"Speaking of that, how much did you hear standing in the doorway?"

"Oh, not much, and it's not important how much I heard Ronald. What's important is that you two are really in love and that is the first thing that needs to be addressed." She took the teapot and cup into her hand and poured herself and her son a steaming cup of tea. She then fell silent. She had no clue what to say.

Ron blushed when his mom said things like this. It always embarrassed him when she gave him love advice. Not that he never wanted to take it, but because she was his mum. It was just weird when she gave told him things like this, especially now that she knows about him and Harry. "Mum, of course Harry and I are taking this seriously. It's just a relief to have you and dad know about it. But I'm still worried about this afternoon." Ron turned and looked at the clock and saw that they would be leaving in an hour to floo to the Dursley's. He shuddered at the thought of being in their house. The same house that the horrible things that Harry had relayed to him and Hermione all those summers. He was relieved when Molly put her hand over his and just let it rest there.

"It will be ok dear. Harry won't let anything happen to you." Molly said, trying to make her son at ease about the situation that he was getting ready to get in to.

"I'm not worried about anything happening to me Mum. I'm worried about something happening to Harry. These are the people that didn't feed him well, and locked him in the cupboard under the stairs," Ron shuddered with the next statement, "and made him wear Dudley's old clothes."

Molly shook her head while Ron was mentioning these things. "I know dear." She looked down at the table for a while then looked up at her son and saw the tears in his eyes, threatening to betray him and fall. "Oh Ronald." Molly stood up and walked around the table quickly and sat down next to her son and put her arms around him. She ran her hand up and down his back just like she did when he was a little boy and he was scared of the thunderstorms. Immediately Ron began to relax. She could still feel some tense spots on his back, but she knew that Harry would have to take care of those. There was nothing more she could do then to be there for her son, and his boyfriend. "I know you're worried about Harry, but he can take care of himself. We've seen that haven't we? Every year at school, something has happened, and you've been right there by his side," Molly leaned down and kissed the side of Ron's face, "and if he can handle all of that, then why wouldn't he be able to handle a couple of muggles?"

"I know Mum, but this is different. This is his family."

"That makes no difference Ronald. Harry can take care of himself just fine. And as we can tell, he can take care of you too." Molly smiled. "I know this is hard for you dear, but the best thing you can do is to be there for him when he needs you. And I think today is one of the biggest days that he wants you by his side."

"I want to be there, really I do. I just don't know if I can do it."

"Ron, you don't have to say anything to them. All you have to do is be there by his side when he needs you. And that is exactly what you are doing. Harry needs you today, are you going to let him do this alone?"

"No, I can't do that to him. Even after everything he's been through, he'll still need someone there by his side." Ron puffed out his chest. "And that should be me."

Molly smiled at her son's boldness. "You're right Ron. Why not go on upstairs and make sure that everything is ok with Harry. He's been up there for a while now, and you need to floo in a little bit."

"Ok Mum." Ron stood up and walked over to the stairs. He climbed them quietly and went directly to his room. He could hear Harry inside moving stuff around. Or it seemed like he was moving stuff around. Ron put his hand on the doorknob and the door quickly swung open. He walked into his room to see it entirely clean. It even looked like the Chudley Cannon's poster above his bed was sparkling. Everything was in its place and Harry was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, dripping with sweat. Ron walked over to him and helped him stand up. "Everything alright Mate?"

Harry looked deep into Ron's eyes and knew that everything would be ok today. "Yeah, everything's fine. I was just," Harry looked around the room, "a bit nervous about this afternoon so I thought I'd clean up a bit. Calm myself down."

"It looks like it worked. We have to go in a little bit, but I wanted to tell you that I will be by your side no matter what today. I don't care about anything other than you right now." Ron gave Harry a kiss on the lips and let them linger, savoring the taste that was Harry's mouth. He wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him as close as he could without hurting him. The warmth emanating from Harry's body was breathtaking. Ron held on to Harry as tight as he could. He never wanted this moment to end, but unfortunately, it had to.

"YOU BOYS BETTER HURRY UP. IT'S ALMOST FOUR O'CLOCK!" Molly yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Ron let go of Harry and looked into his green eyes. "Are you ready mate?"

Harry sighed and then nodded. He knew that it was either now or never. He gave Ron a quick kiss and walked down the stairs to where Molly was waiting. He gave her a quick smile and walked into the living room. He looked at the fireplace and the little pot of floo powder. He picked it up and put some of the powder in this pocket for him and Ron to return when they had finished telling his aunt and uncle about him and Ron. He grabbed three handfuls before he realized just how much he had taken. Ron was standing by his side waiting for him to lead the way. Harry looked up at Molly, "Thank you again Mrs. Weasley. We will be back after we get done over there."

"Not a problem dear, and just remember to stay safe." She gave both of the boys a quick hug and stepped back. "I love you Ron."

"Love you too Mum." Ron echoed. Harry stepped into the fireplace and said loudly, "NUMBER 4 PRIVET DRIVE!" and threw the powder down to his feet and watched as the green flames engulfed him. The familiar spinning came back as he was being pulled through the floo tunnels.

Molly saw Harry disappear and said more to herself than to Ron, "I guess I really do have more than 5 sons." She wiped a tear from her eye as she saw Ronald step into the fireplace with a big grin and follow Harry to the Dursley's home.

When the spinning stopped Harry stepped out of the fireplace and stepped off to the side. The green flames rose again as Ron formed inside the hearth. Ron stepped out of the fireplace and quickly grabbed Harry's hand. This was the first time he had ever been inside the Dursley's home. As homey as Harry's Aunt Petunia had made it, he didn't think that normally, there was food sitting out. _From what Harry's told me, this looks like a feast fit for his cousin, Dudley. _ Ron thought to himself. Ron was surprised to see a steaming pot of tea and still steaming crumpets among several snacks that he had never seen before. He saw the shadow before he could react. He tried dropping Harry's hand, but Harry held on tight. The thin frame of Petunia Dursley came into view. Ron quickly dropped his eyes to the table again. Something caught his eyes. Amongst all the food, a box was sitting on the corner closest to them. Ron looked back up to see Petunia giving her nephew a knowing look. He could feel Harry relax against him. He was going to open his mouth to say something, but was startled by the front door banging open. An extremely large shadow appeared on the wall. Vernon Dursley could be heard swearing as he made his way to the sitting room. The same room that Harry and Ron were in holding hands. Vernon came around the corner and stopped abruptly. "What is the meaning of this?" Mr. Dursley bellowed.

Petunia stepped forward and led him to his chair, which was now placed across the room from them. As he sat, he picked up a still steaming cup of tea and fell into his chair. He quickly sucked down his tea while glancing from the boys, to Petunia, back to the boys. "Vernon, the boys came here today to tell us something very important." Petunia looked to Harry as she dropped her hand into the front pocket of her apron.

Harry dropped Ron's hand and took a step forward. "Err, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon. Ron and I have something to tell you."

"I've gathered that much boy, get on with it!" Vernon prodded from his chair.

Ron saw Petunia tighten her grip on whatever item was in her apron.

"Ok, Aunt, Uncle, Ron and I are together, we're dating." Harry tensed while waiting for a reaction.

Vernon Dursley's plump face drained of all it's color, then quickly flushed a dark red. Before anyone could move, he bolted out of his chair with his arms outstretched, reaching for Harry's untamed hair. He stopped when he noticed a thin long piece of wood pointed at his face. He looked up the arm and saw the bright blue eyes from his wife. "Wha- what's going on?" Vernon stammered.

Harry and Ron both stepped back in awe. Petunia was holding a wand to her husband's face. "You will sit down and listen to what Harry has to say, then you sit and listen to what I have to say." Petunia kept the wand steady as Vernon carefully lowered himself into his chair. She looked over to Harry and Ron and put her wand back into her apron. She handed them both cups of tea and sat down, waiting for Harry to continue.

Harry looked down and shuffled his feet on the carpet. "Err. That's really it. Just that Ron and I, yeah." Harry carefully looked back up to see his aunt smiling brightly at him. In all the years he had lived here, he had never seen her smile so big before. He couldn't help it. He smiled himself and looked at Ron, who was also smiling.

Vernon finally spoke up from his chair, "Is this some kind of joke? Boy, did you give your aunt your wand?"

Harry stepped forward and looked his uncle in the eyes and shook his head. "I have my wand right here." He reached into his robes and pulled out his wand. Harry saw out of the corner of his eye that Ron had pulled out his wand also.

"Vernon, this is no joke. Since the boys have said everything that they want to say, I guess it is my turn." Petunia brought her tall frame out of the small overstuffed chair. She walked over to the table and picked up the large wooden box and brought it to a clear spot on the table and opened it up. The lid was facing Vernon so he could not see inside. She moved an object out of the way and pulled out a thick manila envelope. She threw it down in Vernon's lap. "Vernon, there are things about myself that I never told you. And it seems now, that even after having Harry here for so long, these things, you will not be able to accept. I want a divorce. The papers are all drawn up, and have been for quite some time. All you need to do is sign them." Petunia closed the box and stepped back towards the boys.

"WHAT IS THIS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT A DIVORCE? IS THIS SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE?" Vernon screamed from his chair.

"This is no joke Vernon. There are things from my past that I have come to accept, whether you accept them or not, it doesn't matter."

Vernon Dursley had just been hit with a sack of bricks. He started to get up but saw Petunia and Harry both reaching for their wands, and sat back down. "OUT! I WANT ALL OF YOU OUT OF MY HOUSE! I WILL NOT HAVE THIS NONSENSE GOING ON HERE! LEAVE NOW!"

With a loud crack, Petunia Dursley disappeared from the room. Harry could hear something being opened and shut upstairs, in what seemed to be his room. He also heard a faint "Alohamora." With another loud crack, Petunia was back in the sitting room wearing dark black robes. "I'm sorry it's come to this Vernon. I really am."

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Petunia looked at the boys and pulled her wand out of her robes, and with a quick flick, she said "Locomotar." A door could be heard opening upstairs and loud thunks coming from the stairway as something was coming down the stairs.

Harry and Ron both looked toward the hallway and saw trunk after trunk lining up at the front of the sitting room. It really did seem that Aunt Petunia had had this planned for a long time. All of her things were already packed. They continued lining up as Petunia looked at the boys and with a sheepish smile she asked, "May I come with you boys?"

Harry looked to Ron and saw a quick nod of yes and he walked over to the large pile of trunks. With a bit of effort, he pulled them over to the fireplace and threw some floo powder inside and said loudly, "THE BURROW!". He said a quick spell with a flick of his wand, the trunks began flying into the hearth. When all of them were through, Ron stepped inside and followed Harry's head. The green flames engulfed him and he disappeared.

Vernon Dursley still sat in his chair wide eyed and open mouthed. He could not believe what he was seeing. He also could not believe that his wife had just asked for a divorce.

BR 

Molly Weasley heard the first loud thunk and made her way into the living room and let out a gasp as she saw many trunks being flung into her living room. They were neatly stacked off to the side. When the last trunk came through, the green flames grew and the image of her son stepped out of the fireplace. He nodded to his mum and smiled. "Everything's alright Mum, and it seems we have a guest."

BR 

Petunia Dursley took the floo powder from Harry and stepped inside the fireplace. "Harry, it's been so long, I'm not sure if I remember how to do this."

Harry smiled and turned her hand over. He screamed "THE BURROW!" and watched the green flames take his aunt away to his second home. When she was gone, Harry heard a noise across the room. Vernon Dursley was on his feet and charging at Harry. He wasn't saying anything, but he had a look of feral rage on his face. Harry withdrew his wand and watched the look of rage instantly change to a look to total fright. "I'm leaving Uncle Dursley. And you don't have to worry, you will never see me again."

Vernon stood still. His mouth opened and the words poured out. "YOU BLOODY FAGGOT! GET THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE! I NEVER EVER WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICE OR SEE YOU EVER AGAIN! HOW DARE YOU COME TO MY HOUSE WITH THAT," Vernon's whole body shook as he was screaming, "PERSON YOU CALL A BOYFRIEND! YOU TAKE YOUR SICKNESS AWAY FROM HERE!"

Before Vernon could finish his sentence, Harry was already through the fireplace and stepping into the Weasley's living room. He saw Petunia start to shake as she couldn't believe what she had just done. Molly was herding her into the kitchen to make a pot of tea. Harry looked over at Ron and smiled. "I never thought this would be a rescue mission."

Ron grabbed his boyfriend's hand and kissed him deeply. "Neither did I mate, neither did I."

The two boys walked hand in hand into the kitchen to see Molly and Petunia talking like they had been best friend's who had been separated for years, and were just reacquainted.


	11. Finding Home Again

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

**Chapter 11**

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Finding Home Again**

Harry and Ron walked into the Weasleys' kitchen to see Molly and Petunia sitting at the table, talking. Molly was pouring cups of tea for everyone as Petunia started to cry. She still clutched onto the wooden box from which she had pulled the divorce papers. Harry was watching it bob up and down as her long frame shuddered with her tears. Molly was rushing about the kitchen making sure that she had snacks, even though she didn't think that she would need them. She placed a bowl of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans on the table along with a pot of pumpkin juice. She sat down at the table and laid a hand on Petunia's bony fingers. "Tisk, tisk dear; it will be alright. Go ahead and cry it out," Molly said to the distraught friend in front of her. She looked up at the two boys standing in the doorway and adressed them, "Boys, be dears and take her things up to Fred and George's room." She turned her attention back to Petunia. "Now Pet, listen to me…" Petunia looked up into the brown eyes of this lady that she had just met. All of the barriers that she had built up over the years came crashing down in an instant, with one word. The enormous tears were flowing down her face of their on accord.

The boys quickly walked into the living room and looked at the pile of trunks. Ron looked over at Harry and said, "This is going to take all day. Women really know how to pack for a vacation."

Harry laughed with delight. "It's not a vacation, Ron. It's just the rest of her life, not anything important, you know." He stole a quick glance at the redhead and watched his ears start to change to their crimson state. "Wands at the ready." The boys both pulled out their wands and pointed them at the trunks. Simultaneously they spoke, "Locomotor." They watched as the trunks took flight in a uniformed fashion and made their way up the stairs. As they followed, they heard loud bangs as the trunks were eagerly knocking on the door, trying to gain entrance. "You know, mate, I always forget something," Harry said with a smile.

"It seems that these things have a mind of their own," Ron said as he opened the door. He quickly fell backwards as the trunks overtook him, throwing themselves into the empty room. He was lying on the floor when Harry stepped over him and looked around the room.

"Oh, Ron, this won't do," Harry remarkd while covering his nose and shaking his head.

Ron stood up and looked around the room. "What? What's wrong with their room?" He walked around the room, clueless to what Harry was talking about. With squinting eyes and a blank expression, he turned to Harry and shrugged.

"It stinks, you dolt! How can you not smell that?" Harry replied while laughing. "Don't know how long these women are going to take, so we might as well get busy," Harry said while making his way over to Ron. He reached up and in one fluid motion, opened Ron's robes and took off his shirt. He stepped back, gazing at Ron's milky white chest, and smiled. "Now that's my kind of cleaning."

"You git!" Ron said while blushing. He walked over to Harry and slowly undid the front of his robes. With caressing hands, he opened the front of Harry's button down shirt, making sure to take his time with the top two buttons. Once his shirt was off, he stepped back and marveled at his work. "You know, if we keep up at this, there won't be any time to get the work done before she needs to get some sleep."

"You're right, mate. Work first," Harry said with a glint in his eyes, "play later." He grinned widely as he pulled his wand out. With a quick rise and flick, he said "_Castus._" He stepped back as the broom that had been hidden in the closet forced its way out and started sweeping the floor. The mop in the hallway came in and waited patiently for the broom to do its job. The bed linens quickly flew off of the beds and down the stairs. The beds stood on their ends as the rug beaters came zipping into the room and commenced the beating. Clouds of dust rose from the mattresses and covered everything in the room. Ron, coughing, pointed his wand at the window "_obviam fenestra_". The window flew open. The dust clouds could be seen billowing outside as Ron said, "_Effodio!_" He watched as the room quickly cleared of the dust.

BR 

Draco Malfoy sat on the bed in silence. He began to think of what the world outside of this room was like. Then he scolded himself for even thinking such a thing. Part of him believed that this was it, and there was no world on the other side of the walls. But the other part of him longed to believe that there was something out there, someone who could come in and save him. He raked his hand through is blond hair. He then brought his hand down and looked at it. His gaze went up his wrist and followed his arm to where it met his shoulder. The idea came so suddenly that it took a bit for him to realize it was even there. Without saying anything, Draco got up and made his way over to the table. He picked up the drinking goblet and looked at it. A grin came to his mouth and he said loudly, "I want to leave this place." An instant later, a door appeared on the far wall away from him. It was that easy. All this time that he had been in there, he had wished for food, a bed, windows, things to read, but the thought never came to him of asking to leave. He smiled to himself and walked to the door. He noticed that as he reached for the handle, his hand was trembling. He hated feeling like this, not knowing what would happen to him once he opened that door. Draco Malfoy was scared. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and grasped the handle firmly. He pushed with all with might to no avail. "WHAT! I SAID I WANTED OUT OF HERE!" Without letting go of the door, he pulled his long arm back to his body and watched as the door came with it. A small laugh escaped him. He had his exit; it was right there in front of him…if he could work up the nerve to step out of the room.

BR 

Molly and Petunia still sat at the kitchen table, every once and a while looking toward the ceiling wondering what the boys were doing upstairs to create such a ruckus. Molly looked at Petunia with her big brown eyes. "I'm sorry Pet, please continue with what you were saying." She tightened her grip on Petunia's hand, hoping that it was reassuring her.

Petunia used her free hand to wipe the tears away from her blue eyes. "Where was I? Oh yes, going to Durmstrang. As you know, my sister Lily was accepted at Hogwarts, but I was made to go to Durmstrang. I don't know why, still to this day, but we set off to Diagon Alley to get all of the things that we would need for our schooling. My mum was so proud to have to witches in the family. She went to Gringotts and exchanged all of the money that she had brought with her that day, almost my parents' entire life savings. We had gotten everything that we needed and then made our way home. My father was a bit unnerved when he found out what she had done. You see, Molly, may I call you Molly?"

Molly only nodded in response.

"We were saving up to take a family holiday that summer, and the money that was in the savings was just enough that year to make the trip possible, along with purchasing souvenirs for everyone. But now that Mum had exchanged it for wizarding money, it was of no use to him. But within several short weeks, we were off to school. I had never been to the train station before that. It was so different from anything that I had experienced before. Everyone said their goodbyes and we made our way off to our separate schools.

"Once I was at Durmstrang, I met a lovely girl named Christy. We became fast friends and even shared a room together. It was absolutely amazing. Things were moving on their own. Molly, I had no clue that there was even such a world out there. To be honest, I was scared at first. That was until Christy told me that all of the things that were moving were enchanted. So it was on someone's permission that they moved on their own. That certainly made things a bit easier to bear. That year came and went without anything too special happening." Petunia took time to pause and stole a glance at the wooden box. Molly was intrigued with the box, but knew that Petunia would explain it in her own time. She refilled the glasses of pumpkin juice and waited patiently for her house guest to continue.

"Three years had passed then. We were fourteen and still sharing a room at school. We had learned many things together. Of course, our learning didn't stop at the end of school studies. The first time I noticed anything was one night when we were sleeping. I had woken up in the middle of the night and could not go back to sleep. I slid out of bed and asked Christy if I could sleep with her. I think she was still asleep because she only nodded and mumbled something that I couldn't understand. I did so anyways. When I was in her bed, I was so calm and felt so safe." Petunia trailed off. Molly had noticed that Petunia had stopped caressing the wooden box, but her grip remained tight. "I still don't know why I did it, but I ran my fingers though her silky red hair. She moaned in her sleep and I knew that I wanted more. Nothing was said at the time, or even in days afterwards. In fact now, I don't even know who brought it up, but it was in our fourth year that we became lovers." She stopped talking and watched Molly's face for some kind of approval or disapproval. She wasn't sure which she was looking for, but she showed no signs of disgust, so Petunia continued. "It was one night during our fourth year that things turned sour. We had wanted to try something new and we had found a spell." Petunia wiped the bulbous tears away again then carried on. "I did the spell wrong and the next thing I knew, Christy was gasping for breath while holding her throat. I was expelled before I ever knew what had happened to her. I found out a month later by a friend who sent me an owl that Christy had died that night. I then decided to give up magic. Lily and my mum couldn't understand why I chose to do so, and my mum stopped talking to me shortly after my decision was made. I married Vernon and had Dudley. Well, then I suppose you know the rest."

Molly wiped the tears from her own eyes as her friend told her this story. She had no clue what it must have been like for her to live through that, and then to live with the guilt of killing the one person that she had loved. She could fully understand her decision to give up magic after that. A loud knock on the door ripped Molly from her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Petunia, but I have to get this." Petunia nodded in reply as Molly quickly left the room and opened the front door. Light laughing could be heard coming from the front stoop. Petunia stood and quietly made her way through the Burrow and found the front door. The wooden box fell to the ground as she let out a loud gasp.

BR 

Hermione sat on her bed and watched as her things were being carefully folded and packed away in her trunk. She sighed to herself and let her gaze drift to the window. She did not like the fact that her two best friends had missed their end of the year exams and even more so that they were not there to pack up their things and leave with everyone else. She watched as dark clouds came closer and closer to the school. She was sure that they were bringing rain and storms with them. She brought a hand up and racked it through her bushy brown hair. She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of her trunk snapping shut and locking. She looked at it, sighed, and stood up making her way to the common room to talk with the other students, hoping that she could get some word on Harry and Ron.AC1

BR 

Harry pushed the dresser against the wall and sighed. The room was finally finished. Harry stepped back and wiped the sweat from his brow and looked around the room with a smile. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to Ron. "It's all done, love." He leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Ron fell back on the bed and let Harry fall on top of him. He wrapped his arms around his raven-haired boyfriend and stared lovingly into his jade-coloured eyes. Ron brought his head up and pressed his lips firmly against Harry's. The two sets of soft lips meshed together harmoniously. Harry stifled a moan and pressed his hips into Ron's. Ron complied and did the same. Harry pulled away and rolled off of Ron. "I don't think that we should continue this here."

"Why not, mate?"

"Because it's the room that my aunt is staying in Ron; it just doesn't seem right," Harry said while propping himself up on his elbow.

"You're right. Let's go to my room," Ron said while starting to stand up.

"No, I don't think that we should do this in your mum's house," Harry replied while averting his eyes.

"What? She knows about us, Harry. I'm sure that she expects it, and to be honest, I don't want to let her down."

Harry smiled and stifled a laugh. "I know you don't want to let her down, but I just don't think it's right. We'll have plenty of time to worry about that stuff."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It is summer now," Ron said casually.

Harry sat upright and brought his hands up to his face. "Merlin, it is summer now, isn't it? I'm supposed to be at Hogwarts!"

Ron reached out and grabbed Harry's arm, keeping him on the bed. "Relax, mate. I'm sure Dumbledore knows where you are and he can come and get you when you need to go back. Besides, the students haven't left yet. He might be waiting for the commotion to die down before he has you come back, that way he doesn't have to answer a bunch of questions as to why you're not going home with everyone else. Saves him a lot of trouble, if you ask me."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Harry laid down on the bed again and reached up and ran a hand through Ron's hair. "Have I told you that I love you yet today?"

Ron brought his hand up to his chin and rubbed it softly. "Um, I think about four times. Why?"

"Well, make it five. I love you, Ron." Harry said with a smile.

"I love you too, Harry," Ron replied while laughing. He brought his hands up to his face and began to rub it furiously. He let them drop with a sigh. Ron fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "You know, mate, we don't know how long you're going to be here."

Harry looked over at him with a coy smile. "I know, that's why I left the remaining clothes here, remember?" He watched as Ron scrunched up his nose and made a confused expression. "When your mum and dad came to pick us up, remember, she asked what I wanted her to do with my clothes and such. I told her to leave them here, because we'll never know when I might need them here, just like today, or tomorrow."

Ron nodded as everything began to sink in. In only a day or two, Dumbledore would be by to collect Harry and take him back to Hogwarts for the summer. This would be the last time that they saw each other until August. A small tear formed in his eye and he quickly wiped it away before Harry could see what he was doing, or even make him think that something was wrong. But something _was _wrong. Two people who loved each other shouldn't be apart for a whole summer. He was trying to figure out how he would deal with not being able to see Harry for three months. A wave of depression came over him and he groaned.

Harry looked up, his eyes wide with surprise. "What is it, Ron? Is something the matter?" He scooted closer to the tall, thin redhead and laid his head down on Ron's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"No, it's nothing." He looked down and saw the top of Harry's head and the wave deepened inside of him. The black hole was growing with every passing second and each time he looked at Harry, it made him feel worse. "What do you say we get a shower, love?"

Harry looked up and smiled. It was just the thing that he needed. They had spent most of the day cleaning the room and getting it all prepared for his aunt to come up here and stay and he knew that he felt dirty. He wanted to wash away the dirt. Harry stood up, walked to the door, and looked back to the beautiful teenager still lying on the bed. "You coming or what?"

Ron quickly jumped up and followed Harry into the bathroom. When he walked into the room he was surprised to see that Harry was already naked and turning on the water. He looked over to Ron as he stepped behind the curtain. Ron quickly dropped his trousers and reached in the feel the water. He was met by a gasp coming from Harry. "That's not the water, mate," Harry said with a giggle. Ron looked up and shook his head. He suddenly didn't care how the water felt. He had a sudden need to be as close to Harry as he could. He pulled the curtain back and stepped into the shower, closing the curtain behind him quickly.

BR 

The wooden box fell to the ground with a loud bang. The impact of it hitting the ground broke it. A shattering of glass was heard as a yellow light came from the remains of the box. The light rippled as it expanded and then, at once, flew up and went into Petunia's chest. She let out another gasp as her arms flew akimbo style and she stuttered backwards. Her tightly curled hair released its curls and it flowed down straight. The lines on her face faded a bit and the blue of her eyes deepened to the colour of the ocean. Her back straightened, and her legs went stiff. Her entire posture changed as the light began seeping into her. Her head was thrown back as she let out a guttural moan.

Molly ran over to her and put her arm around her. "Are you alright, dear?" She tightened her grip around Petunia's waist and waited for a response.

"I've…never felt better." She looked down at her own body and laughed. She looked up at the woman in the doorway and faltered.

The tall redheaded woman standing in the doorway wasn't watching Petunia. Her gaze was focused on what had spread itself out on the floor where the box was. The dark red robes looked too small to be worn by the woman who had just put on the amazing show. She thought that maybe they were robes that one of her children would have worn. But why, if her child went to Durmstrang, was she here with the robes? Durmstrang was too far away and there was no train that left from London to make it all the way there, at least not anymore. She let her gaze travel up the woman's thin, lanky frame and then fell to her face. "Are you all right?" she asked, trying to show concern.

Petunia looked up into the woman's hazel eyes and immediately felt safe. She was shaken by the feeling of comfort that this woman exhibited so easily. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you." She answered with complete sincerity. She bent down easily and picked up the fragments of the box and the school robes. She looked up at Molly and her hand gently traced over them, "You know, it feels like home again." She closed her eyes and pulled the robes close to her bosom.

Molly slowly bent down and helped her stand up. "Come on, dear, let's all sit down and have a cup of tea to calm things down a bit." She urged Petunia on with her hand on the small of her back and gently nodded to the woman standing in the doorway.

When the two were seated, Molly went to the stove and removed the kettle and began pouring steaming water into three cups. She then went into the cupboard and removed three packets of tea. "I'm sorry; I didn't have time to soak the tea in the kettle. We'll just have to do it the old fashioned way. I hope that that's alright with everyone." She looked at the two women who nodded but did not look at her. Their gaze had not left each other since they had sat down, even though they had not shared two words. Molly set the kettle on the table where it could be reached by any of the parties there and then followed suit and sat down. She opened her packet of tea and began dipping it slowly into the still steaming water. She looked up with a start. "Oh, Merlin me. I'm so sorry. Petunia, this is my friend, Christy. Christy, meet Petunia."

Christy looked deep into Petunia's eyes. "I once knew a Petunia. Back when I was in school. I heard that in our fourth year she got expelled. I never did find out what happened to her." She blushed, "Pardon me. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go on about that. It's just that whenever I hear the name, the memories come back to me and," she paused, "it's still the most beautiful name that I have ever heard."

It was now Petunia's turn to blush. The words that came out of Christy's mouth had not hit her yet. It was Molly's gasp that brought her out of her reverie.

"Did you say that she was expelled in her fourth year?" Molly asked.

"Yes she, I mean, we, tried a spell one night. I won't say what the circumstances were at the moment, but the spell didn't go exactly as planned. Or at least at the beginning it seemed that it didn't go as planned. But still to this day, it was the best thing that I had ever felt. After she left school, I never heard from her again." Christy lowered her head and wiped a tear from her eye.

Petunia looked up with her mouth agape. The words hit her at once. "Christy?" She could not believe that this woman sitting across the table from her was her former girlfriend. Her grip on the robes tightened.

Christy looked up and at once realized who she had been talking to. "Pet?" The tears that had formed in her eyes started to fall freely. It had been several decades since they had seen each other but it seemed now that no time had passed. She slowly reached across the table and placed her hand on Petunia's. "All these years... Where have you been?" She was struggling to see a clear image of the dark haired woman in front of her through the tears.

"I've been…" Petunia trailed off. It seemed that no answer she could have given seemed fit. She looked at the woman in a new light. She had never seen anyone so beautiful before in her life. Her long, dark red hair flowing straight down and rested gently on her shoulders. Her hazel eyes were so beautiful, even though they were shedding tears. She lowered her head as her own tears started to best her. With her free hand she tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming relentlessly. "I've been living in the Muggle world. After I heard that you had died, I bound up my magic and put it in a bottle. It was hidden under the robes in the box." Her hand tightened again on the robes. "These are yours. Before I left the school, when I was packing up my things, one of your robes was mixed in with my stuff and I took it with me." She looked up and saw the wonder in the woman's face.

Christy gave a smile. "So _that's _what happened to those robes. I always wondered where they went. Did you say that you found out that I had died?"

Petunia nodded. "Yes. Alexei wrote to me and told me that you had died that night."

"I never did like Alexei. He was always mean to you," Christy said with another smile.

Molly sat back and watched the two converse. It seemed that no time had passed between them in all the years that they had been separated. She sat back in her chair and smiled. It was times like this that made life worth while. She slowly sipped on her tea and decided that it needed a bit of sugar. Molly stood and quietly walked back to the cupboard and pulled down the box of sugar and put two cubes into her tea and sat back down, slowly stirring it. She kept glancing between the two friends as they chatted back and forth, filling the other in on what had happened to them after that fateful night so long ago. She looked up at the ceiling, wondering what was taking the boys so long to put the trunks in Fred and George's room. She pushed herself back from the table and excused herself and walked to the stairs. She started up them slowly and quietly. When she reached the last step then the landing she heard two voices coming from the bathroom.

"Oh, Harry, that feels so good."

"Shh, Ron, your mum will hear you," Harry said in a hushed tone.

"No she won't. She's down there with your aunt right now. We're all alone up here." Molly heard a sharp intake of breath. "Oh, don't stop. Do that again." It was followed by another moan. Molly shook her head then turned around and walked down the stairs again. When she reached the bottom, she looked back up them and smiled. She made her way back into the kitchen to find the two ladies still in the same seats that they were in and still talking, but their tea cups were empty. She quickly picked up the kettle and refilled them then sat down, listening to them converse.

BR 

Draco sat on the floor in front of the open door. The whole world was in front of him at this moment, but he couldn't find the nerve to go through the door and see what awaited him. He was now more scared than he ever remembered himself being. He looked back at the big soft bed in the center of the room, then at the bookshelf against the wall to his right. Everything had been so perfect here. He had food whenever he was hungry, or whenever he wished for it. The windows had let in a substantial amount of light into the room and every so often a fresh breeze would sweep through the room. He often heard a deep voice coming from outside singing a tune, but he never had the courage to walk to the window to see who owned the voice. All he knew was that he liked the sound of it. It was so deep and melodic. Draco felt the wind on his back and he turned around to let it wash over his face. He loved this place. Now he wished that he never would have asked to leave, but he had, and now he was faced with the dilemma of making that decision. He looked again at the door and sighed. From everything he could remember, this was the hardest decision that he had ever had to make in his life. Although, his memory didn't go back that far. He wished he could remember what had happened to him before he entered this room. It might give him some insight as to who he was. All he knew was that his name was Draco Malfoy. He had asked for the short creature to come back, but each time he was not awarded with what he wanted. He still longed for someone to talk to, but the fear began to overtake him. He sat on the floor and began to shake.

BR 

Hermione sat in the common room talking with several students. None had heard anything about Harry and Ron. She glanced over at the fireplace and saw Fred standing there. It was weird to see him without George by his side, but she made her way over to him thinking that if anyone had heard anything, it would be Fred, since it did involve his brother, after all.

"Hello, Hermione," Fred greeted her.

"Hey, Fred. Have you heard anything about Harry and Ron?"

"Harry and Ron?" Fred looked around the common room. "No, I haven't. Aren't they here?"

Hermione thought that Fred might try to play a trick on her, but the look on his face told her that he was being honestly clueless. "No, Fred, they're not here. Your mum and dad came the other day and they went back to the Burrow with them. Everyone is leaving tomorrow morning, and they're not here to pack up their things. I'm getting a bit worried that they've been away for so long."

"I'm sure they're all right, little lady. No need to worry about them. They're big boys, after all," George said from behind her.

"Yeah, nothing our little Ronnie can't handle, or I should say Harry. He _is _the better one of the two, if you ask me," Fred complimented.

"But it's been nearly two days now…"

"Two days is nothing. Remember last year we disappeared for two weeks? Now that was something," George said.

"Yeah, two weeks," Fred said.

"But Harry and Ron aren't you. And besides, you two had everyone so worried here that they closed classes for a week and a half."

"And still no 'thank you' from anyone," the twins said in unison.

Hermione shook her head and walked away from them before they would try to get her to eat some new concoction that they had come up with. She sat on one of couches and decided that Dumbledore has to know what was going on, especially with Harry being gone. He wouldn't allow it to go unnoticed that Harry Potter was gone from Hogwarts without his previous knowledge or consent. She felt a tap on her shoulder and was then engaged in conversation with another student. Her mind slowly drifted away from the missing Harry and Ron.

BR 

The watch on Christy's left arm beeped and she looked down at it. "Merlin, I have to get going!" She stood up quickly pushing the chair away from the table and took her tea cup over to the sink. She walked to the door and stopped beside Petunia. "It was really good to see you again, Pet. How long will you be here?"

Petunia looked down at the table. "I don't know."

Molly stood up. "As long as she needs to stay here. She has to rebuild her life, now, so I'm sure it will take some time to get everything done." She looked down at Petunia and smiled.

"All right, I'll send you an owl later. You do still receive owl post, yes?" Christy asked while grabbing her travel cloak and wrapping it around herself tightly.

"Yes, it's been a while, but I'm sure that I can get used to it in no time." Petunia blushed and looked down at the table. It was so weird for her to be this shy around someone. But as Molly had put it, she needed to rebuild her life, and she had to start at the beginning. Making friends was the first thing that she needed to do. She pushed herself back from the table and walked Christy to the front door with Molly leading the way. After seeing that she gave Molly a hug, Petunia hesitated, but then opened her arms wide and embraced her second new friend. While Christy was in her arms, she was again overcome by the feeling of safety. She didn't want to let her go, but knew that she had to. Reluctantly, she pulled her arms back and stepped away. She watched as Christy turned and walked down the road and then heard a muffled _pop _and she was gone. It wasn't until Molly closed the door and had her arm around her waist again that she came out of her thoughts. "How…" She started, but found that she couldn't continue the thought.

"I don't know, dear, but Christy and I have been friends since I married Arthur. ARTHUR!" she screamed. "He still doesn't know that you're here. Oh, it's too late to send him an owl; it won't get there in time. I guess he'll just have to be surprised when he gets here." She walked back into the kitchen and set the remaining two tea cups into the sink. She turned around and leaned on the counter. Molly heard the bathroom door close upstairs and then heard another door close and figured that the boys were in Ronald's room. She looked at Petunia and said, "I'm sure you're exhausted, dear. Why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep before dinner? I'll have one of the boys get you when it's done."

Petunia nodded and walked to the stairs. When she was at the bottom of them she turned around, "Which room am I sleeping in?"

Molly looked up and replied, "Oh, I'm sorryAC2 . It's the third door on your right as you're upstairs. I'm sure the boys made it comfortable for you. If not, then just give me a holler."

Petunia made her way up the stairs and found the correct room. She shut the door behind her and found that all of her clothes had been put in the dresser and in the closet. She quickly stripped off her clothes and located her nightgown and slipped it on. She pulled the sheets down and lay down in the bed. Within several minutes she was sound asleep.

BR 

Harry lay on Ron's bed and held him. The two were freshly washed and quite tired. He lowered his head and kissed Ron on top of his. The wet hairs tickled his nose and he turned his head to the side and sneezed. He then lowered his head down again and rested his cheek on the top of Ron's head. The two boys lay there, saying everything that needed to be said without sharing a word. Harry brought his hand up and ran it down Ron's now clothed chest. He moved his head to Ron's ear and began kissing it. It had been so long since they had been able to be alone like this that they almost forgot how to handle each other. There was so much that Harry wanted to say right now, but knew that it wasn't the time to say it. The time would come eventually; he just didn't know when. He was pulled from his thoughts by Ron's voice.

"Will we have a place of our own or will we live here with Mum and Dad?" He asked.

"Eventually one day, I hope to have a place that we can call our own, love. It might take some time, but I'm sure we can do it," Harry replied.

Ron laid against Harry's chest and felt his heartbeat. He knew that no matter what was going on in his life, when he was with Harry, he was always home. His mind drifted to them buying their first house, inviting Hermione over and other friends that they would still be talking to. He longed for the Great War to be over so that they could live their lives in peace and without worry. He sighed and pressed himself harder into Harry's body. It had been a while since they had heard anything about Voldemort or any of his followers, but he knew that they were planning an attack. They had to be, because Voldemort wasn't the type that gave up easily, especially now that he was human again. Ron hated the fact that he never knew what was going to happen to Harry at any given moment, but he knew that at this moment he was safe. They were both safe right where they were, but soon Harry would have to go back to Hogwarts, and Ron couldn't be able to protect him. Not that Ron normally protected him, but he hated the fact that he wouldn't be able to see him all summer. He let out an audible sigh as the momentary depression washed over him. He had tried to push it out of his mind, but he found out that it wasn't as simple as he would have liked it to be. He wished that all he had to do was think of it being gone, and it was gone, but that didn't work. He wanted Harry to stay with him at the Burrow all summer, or to go to Hogwarts with him. He just wanted to be together, but he knew that it wouldn't happen that way. He was already preparing his mind for the long departure they would have.

Harry sat there thinking of the things that he would be doing this summer. He thought of meeting his grandmum for the first time. He couldn't wait for that. He knew that after reading her letters, the more recent ones anyways, she was very excited to be coming to Hogwarts. He knew that she was a Muggle, but adored the fact that she had two witch daughters. He still didn't comprehend that his aunt Petunia was a witch. After all those years of living with the Dursleys, being treated the way that he had been treated, why she had decided to tell his uncle Vernon that she was a witch after all. He wanted to talk to her and find out what it was all about, find out why she hid that side of her for so long. He wanted to know why she allowed his uncle to say the things that he had said about his parents. And most importantly he wanted to know why, when he had found out that he was a wizard, she called his mum a freak. The memories were unnerving. He knew that she had certain images that she needed to portray, but to speak of her own family that way, especially when she was the same thing, was just wrong. He looked down at Ron and noticed that he had fallen asleep in his arms. It felt so right to hold him this way, to protect him from anything that could hurt him. Harry loved him like he had never loved anything before. He rested his head against the headboard and quickly fell asleep, holding the love of his life.

BR 

Molly was busy bustling around the kitchen enchanting pots and pans and getting dinner prepared for the evening. The controlled chaos in the room was a sight to behold. The pheasants that Christy had given Molly were being plucked and dressed in the far corner with feathers flying out the window. Molly added a new bird as each was finished with a simple multiplication spell that had served her well most of her married life. As she worked on a lovely hollandaise sauce and cranberry sauce at the stove, the table was alive with activity. At the far end the apples for her tarts were being peeled and quartered. Potatoes and carrots were being scrapped and cut up and a crisp spinach salad was flying together with ease. Molly was very pleased to have this chance to put together such a wonderfully rich and special dinner. Feeling a tap on her back, Molly turned as the pans with the birds requested space to enter the oven for their cook time. As each task was finished the cleaning supplies scurried to make the room tidy and straight.

When the sauces were complete, she sat down at a clean end of the table and sighed to herself. She knew the risk that she was taking by not letting Arthur know that Petunia was there, but she didn't really think that using Errol was a good idea since Arthur would have already left the Ministry. She knew that the best option was to continue with her meal and wait for him to come in and relax a bit before she brought on the news. Although they had guests regularly, it was odd that one would spring up in the middle of the week like this. She lowered her head into her hands and sighed again.

Molly was shaken from her daydream when the timer to the oven went off. She stood up quickly, walked the length of the kitchen to retrieve the two pans of pheasant,and set them on the counter. She turned to look at the clock and saw that Arthur was just about home. She quickly set the food on the table and dressed the pheasant in the hollandaise sauce. When the pans were on the table, she whipped around and enchanted the glasses to fill themselves with ice and water, and then set themselves on the table. With that done, she walked to the stairs and started up them to retrieve the boys. She didn't want to scream out of fear of waking Petunia. Any time that she could spend sleeping was better. When she hoisted her robust frame up on the landing she made her way to Ronald's room. When she opened the door she gasped. She stepped into the room quietly and watched as her son slept as his boyfriend carefully had him wrapped in his arms. She thought it better to let the boys sleep after the busy day that they had had, but time was pressing on her and she knew that she wanted them awake and down stairs when she told her husband about their guest. She quietly walked over to the boys and shook Harry's arm. She knew that she wasn't shaking him hard enough to wake him, but he did elicit a response.

"Not yet, Mum. Five more minute, please."

Molly stepped back and smiled, then frowned. She thought that he must have been dreaming about his parents and the thought saddened her. She always knew that after Harry had met all of their family that he considered them his, but she didn't think that his subconscious would accept that.

BR 

Harry had been sleeping in the room that he and Ron had shared in their own house. It was after the Great War and unfortunately, Arthur did not make it. The two had decided to let Molly move in with them. He was sure that it was some unruly time in the morning. He still felt her shaking him, trying to rouse him. "Not yet, Mum. Five more minutes, please." It had come out of his mouth before he could even tell himself not to say it. It was true that he thought of the Weasleys as his family also, but for it to come out in a dream as well? Harry was stupefied even in his dream at what he had said. The confusion made him wake.

Harry carefully brought his arms up to his face and rubbed his eyes. When he replaced his glasses he saw Molly standing close to the bed, wearing a frown on her face. He attempted to bolt upright, but he was hindered by Ron's body. Instead he looked up at her with fear in his eyes. "What is it, Molly? Is something wrong?" He reached over to the nightstand beside the bed and grabbed his wand with urgency.

Molly shook her head. "It's nothing, dear. I just wanted to let you and Ron know that it was almost time for supper and that Arthur would be home soon." She stood where she was still wearing her frown. Harry knew that there was more that she wanted to say.

"But…" Harry urged.

"Oh it's nothing, dear, at least not anything important." She waved him off with a quick flip of her wrist.

Harry studied her carefully. He watched as her shoulders slumped forward a tiny bit. He noticed that she was taking in deeper breaths than normal. He wondered if he had talked in his sleep. Before the next thought hit him, he knew why she was upset. She had heard him say "Mum" when he was sleeping. He carefully pressed down on the mattress and pushed himself to a more upright position. "Molly, did you, err, hear me talk in my sleep?"

Molly nodded in response.

"I want to tell you something. Please pull that chair up and sit down." He waited until she did what he asked and then continued, "In my dream, Ron and I had our own house. I won't bore you with a lot of details, but you were there living with us. You had tried to wake me." Harry looked down at the mattress on his side. "I…I called you Mum." He still did not look up at her. He heard her stand up and felt her arms around him before he could move. He didn't really want to move at that point. It had been so long since anyone other than Ron had hugged him and he missed the feeling. The two were still embracing when a door downstairs opened and closed. Molly stood up and straightened her apron and dress. "It's alright to think of me as your mum dear. Something tells me that your mum wouldn't mind." She smiled softly at him. "Arthur's home and dinner is ready. If you would, please wake up Ronald and your aunt and bring them downstairs." She walked to the doorway and turned around. She gave Harry another smile before disappearing down the hallway humming to herself.

Harry shook Ron awake. He looked down at his redheaded boyfriend and kissed him on the forehead. "Your mum came in to tell us that your dad is home and that dinner is ready."

Ron rubbed his eyes and mumbled, "Food." He smiled up at Harry and then rolled off of him. He stood there for a moment and took in the site of his boyfriend lying in his bed. He relished in the thought and feeling that it gave him. He quickly walked to the door and went downstairs.

Harry stood and quickly swiped at his pants and shirt, getting the soft folds out of them, while walking to the door. He made his way to Fred and George's room to wake up his aunt. He could hear Ron downstairs laughing with his dad and he smiled. When he reached the door, he knocked quietly and opened it. He stuck his head in and said in a loud whisper, "Aunt Petunia?" He waited for her to open her eyes. "Molly wanted me to let you know that dinner is ready. Would you like for me to wait for you out here?"

"Yes, Harry, that will be fine," Petunia said before she watched him close the door. She threw the covers back on the bed and stepped on the hard cold floor. She was overcome with the feeling of the new floor. For years she had been accustomed to having carpet in their bedroom. She shook her head and chided herself. _Now is not the time to be thinking about not having carpet._ She located some casual clothes and put them on. When she opened the door she found Harry dutifully waiting for her across the hallway. "Good evening, Harry," she said.

"Evening, Aunt Petunia." Harry stood and walked up next to her. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and grabbed her hand. He looked up and saw that she was smiling at him. Since Petunia had told him and Ron about her being a witch, Harry felt that there was a bond between them now. He still did not know how much of a bond, but he was glad that the bond was there.

When the two reached the bottom of the stairs and turned into the kitchen, Petunia's gaze fell immediately on Arthur. He quickly stood from the table as she stuttered backwards into the family room. The last thing she saw was the concerned look on Harry's face before she went into the darkness that was surrounding her so quickly.

-END OF CHAPTER 11-

* * *

AC1Every sentence starts with "She" try varying it up a little to keep it interesting

AC2Lots of "dears"…might not want to overdo it or the effect could be lost


	12. Going Home

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts" **

**Chapter 12**

"**Going Home"**

**Going Home**

Petunia Dursley opened her eyes to see a very concerned group above her. Her dark blue eyes opened wide as all of the faces came into focus. A slight smile came to her lips as the dizziness started to ebb away. She lifted her hand and allowed Harry to help her back onto her feet. She quickly brushed the dust and creases out of her clothes. Her gaze fell on the group in front of her and she said, "I'm all right now." She reached out and steadied herself on Harry's shoulder as another wave of nausea washed over her. "Really, I'm alright now," Petunia said as she started walking into the kitchen, leaving the group behind her. She made her way into the room and sat down at the table. The night was quickly growing around the Burrow, leaving things unseen in the darkness surrounding them.

Molly Weasley came and sat down next to Petunia and handed her a plate full of food. "Now, I want you to eat up. You're too thin, and I just won't stand for that. There's plenty of food here, so have your fill." Molly quickly began scooping food onto other plates and began handing them around the table. When everyone had a plate of food in front of them, they all began eating slowly, no one really sure what to talk about.

That changed as soon as the group took their first few bites of dinner. "By Merlin's beard, Molly, this is wonderful!" Arthur exclaimed, with a pleased look at his flushing wife. Ron piped in with, "Bloody hell, Mum, why don't you cook like this all the time?" which earned him a cuff on the shoulder from Harry. More politely and subdued, Harry complimented Molly with, "This is the best pheasant I have ever tasted…Mum."

Harry gave Molly a small smile and glanced at Ron and then his aunt. Petunia was sitting there with her mouth open and quickly snapped it shut, and gave Harry a nod and smile of understanding. Turning to Molly, she said, "You are a wonder Molly; this is a very fine meal. Thank you so much for all of this."

Molly turned and looked at Petunia. "Don't thank me, dear. Bringing you here wasn't my idea. It was the boys' idea. I had no clue that you were coming until Ronald came back before you with the trunks."

Hearing Molly talk about this brought a slight flush to Harry's cheeks. "It wasn't really our idea either. She had everything already packed, and we couldn't say no."

Petunia blushed and looked down at the table, "Oh my, I guess I really did invite myself, didn't I?"

"Don't you worry about that, dear. We're all glad that you're here." With a firm glance to Arthur, she added, "Aren't we?" The two women laughed as they heard the chorus of the three male voices raised, "Yes, we are!" Arthur and the boys exchanged looks of confusion.

The tension that had hung heavy in the air at the beginning of the meal was long gone and the easy conversation that flowed between the group was punctuated with much laughter and many shared smiles. With the mood so light and carefree, no one expected the light knock on the door. Molly looked at her husband and said, "I wonder who that could be." She stood and quickly walked to the door and opened it. When she didn't see anyone she started to close the door until a small squeak was heard throughout the kitchen. Petunia stood and with a shaking hand she pointed low to the ground and screamed, "Wha- what _is _that?"

The small grey creature stepped into the kitchen and removed his tiny hats. "Excuse me, mistress, but I must speak privately with Ron Weasley," Dobby said with diffidence. His eyes scanned the room to find the tall redhead sitting at the table beside Harry. When he saw Harry, his face lit up with a smile. "Hello, Harry!"

Harry was taken aback at the site of Dobby standing in the Weasley's' kitchen. The sound of his fork falling onto his plate resonated through the oddly quiet room. He turned to Petunia and told her, "It's ok. He's nice… except when he wants something. Do you remember when the cake fell on Uncle Vernon's boss's wife's head?" Harry nodded with a chuckle. "That was Dobby's doing."

Dobby, hearing this, lowered his head. "I was only trying to save Harry Potter's life."

Petunia looked at Harry and asked, "You mean, you really didn't do it?" Her attention was quickly brought to what the small being had said. "Save his life? What do you mean save his life?"

Harry put his hands up, stopping Dobby from continuing. "It's nothing, Aunt Petunia. It happened several years ago, no need to worry about it now." Harry tried to obfuscate the story of his second year.

While the three were conversing back and forth, Molly was busy getting another plate ready. When she finally set it down on the table, she pulled the chair out and set several spell books on it. While patting it, she looked to Dobby and said, "Come in; have a seat and join us," not knowing the reaction to come. As she slowly stood, she saw Harry jump up and run around the table to Dobby's side.

The tiny house elf hastily dropped to the floor and proceeded to bash his head into the wooden floor repeatedly as near incoherent words poured out of him. Harry reached down and lifted him off of the floor, despite his screaming and kicking, and set him on the chair, still holding on to him until he calmed down. "Now, Dobby, don't disrespect this lady and her invitation."

Dobby looked up and, with bulbous tears in his enormous eyes said, "I'm sorry, mistress, Dobby never meant to disrespect you, it's just that Dobby is rarely treated with this much kindness." His mouth shut and he looked down at the food in front of him. Dobby reached down and picked up the fork with gentle care, so as not to cause any more damage to anything in the house. When the food filled his mouth, he was overcome by the amazing taste of what he was eating. "Mistress, this food is wonderful. Dobby really enjoys your cooking!" He said with a new vigor and proceeded to shovel the food into his mouth.

Molly felt the tug in her heart as she heard Dobby say that he was not treated nicely and she began sniffing. She looked up as she heard her son start to mumble something.

"You wouldn't if you tasted what she normally cooked," Ron tried saying under his breath.

"RONALD WEASLEY! I've managed to keep your belly full for all these years. You never complained before, and I don't want to start hearing it now. Merlin knows, I have to hear it from Fred and George every time they come home. I do not want to start hearing it from you as well. Besides, how can you taste what I cook anyways, good, bad, or otherwise, when you shovel it in your mouth so fast?"

Dobby instantly slowed his eating, but continued at a rapid speed.

Ron looked at the table and blushed. "Sorry, Mum." He looked up and watched as Dobby continued to eat like he hadn't eaten in years. "So, what did you need to speak me to about, Dobby?"

Dobby looked up and with a thin smile replied, "Dobby can only speak to you. Harry Potter cannot hear what Dobby has to tell you."

Harry looked down at the house elf sitting in the chair in front of him. "What do you mean I can't hear what you have to tell him?"

"Dobby can only speak to Ron Weasley. Dobby doesn't want to hurt his friend, Harry Potter, but Dobby must follow his orders."

"Whose orders, Dobby?" Ron asked.

"Dobby cannot say in front of Harry Potter. DOBBY CANNOT BREAK HIS WORD TO PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!" Dobby picked up the copper water goblet and started to hit himself in the forehead. "BAD DOBBY! BAD DOBBY!"

Harry reached down and pried the goblet from Dobby's hands. "STOP HITTING YOURSELF!" He set the goblet down on the table and pushed it, the plate, and utensils out of Dobby's reach. He walked back around the table and took his seat next to his boyfriend. When he was seated he placed his hands on the table, ready to jump in case Dobby managed to grab something.

Ron saw Harry's hands on the table and he felt a sudden need to touch him. He lowered his hand on top of his raven-haired boyfriend's and intertwined their fingers together. He let out a sigh of contentment at the feeling of Harry's hand beneath his. He tightened his hand to bring Harry's closer to his. He looked over and saw that Harry was looking at him and giving him a reassuring look. When he looked back across the table, he saw Dobby's mouth open and his eyes questioning. Before he could ask the question, Ron supplied him with the answer. "Dobby, Harry and I are, err, we're dating." He quickly looked at Harry again and saw him nod his approval, so he continued. "We've felt this way for each other for a long time, and it was time that we took things to the next level." Ron looked at his parents and saw them smiling; he then dared a glance at Harry's aunt and also saw her smiling. At that moment, Ron felt that the two families that he loved more than anything in both his world and the Muggle world were truly becoming one.

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Draco Malfoy sat on the bed in the Room of Requirement, staring directly at the open door. The only light in the room was coming from a small lantern that appeared on the table several nights ago. It appeared the first night that he had stayed up reading and, when the sudden burst of light came into the room, he let out a small yelp. Even though he knew that it was dark outside, he had no idea what time it was. He had had several chances to get up and leave throughout the day, and once he even poked his head out to see if there was anyone down the corridor. He saw that the coast was clear, but he still could not rummage up the courage to take that one step. He had finally given up and walked back to the bed and slumped down on it. Earlier today he had wanted nothing more than to leave this room. He began to think of it as an imprisonment, that he was not allowed to leave until someone came and gave him amnesty, but he was afraid that the moment would not come. His mind was at war with itself. He still wanted dreadfully to leave, but he wanted to stay here. He knew that if he left, there was a whole world out there that he knew nothing about, whereas in the room, he knew everything about it. He had everything he wanted, and if he didn't, he could tell the room what it was and it would appear before him. He slowly rose from the bed and brushed his black robes with his hands. It was either now or never.

As he walked to the door, Draco stopped. He had made it halfway there when he thought he had heard a noise. He covered his mouth with his hand to quiet the sound of his breathing. The sound was getting louder. Whatever was making the _click click _sound was coming closer. He looked at the opening in the wall and saw a hand grab the doorjamb.

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Hermione sat on her bed in the Gryffindor tower. She could not help but worry about the fact that Harry and Ron were not back yet, and the students would be leaving in the morning after breakfast to head back to their families for the summer. She was absent mindedly playing with her fingers as she tried to think of why the boys would not be back yet. Her mind kept telling her that something bad had happened to them, but if that was the case then she knew that Professor Dumbledore would have come and told her, or at least she hoped that he would have come and told her. She looked out the window and saw that the night sky was clear and the moon was waning from last night's full moon. She sighed and admitted to herself that she probably would not see her best friends until the next school year. She then jumped off of her bed and ran to her trunk that was sitting at the end if it. She undid the locks and opened it, pulling out some parchment, her quill, and inkwell and went back to her bed, placing the items that she just retrieved carefully on the bed and sat down. She grabbed the parchment and her quill and began writing.

"Dear Ron,

I know that you're not here at the school, and you're probably with Harry right now, but I just had to write this to make sure that you two were safe. Something keeps telling me that something bad has happened to you two, and I can't shake off the feeling that it's right. When you get this, please send an owl to my parents since we're all leaving in the morning. I miss you two and I'll see you next school year.

Hermione"

She folded the parchment and put her quill and inkwell back into her trunk and left the bedrooms. She made her way to the owlery and sent the letter off to the Burrow. She quietly walked back to the dormitory, being careful to avoid any teacher that might be patrolling the corridors that she would need to take. When she had only one more turn to make until she was before the Fat Lady's portrait, she saw the faint light of a lantern that was getting closer. Hermione watched as the lantern swayed back and forth. She pressed herself against the wall and tried to make herself invisible as the person started to round the corner. Hermione quickly closed her eyes as she heard a voice.

"Miss Granger? What are you doing in the corridors at this hour?"

Hermione opened her eyes and saw Professor McGonagall standing before her in her nightgown. "Oh, I'm sorry professor. I couldn't sleep. You know, with getting ready to go home tomorrow and everything. I just needed a quick stroll to calm myself down." Hermione did her best to smile and hoped that her teacher wouldn't see through her lie.

Professor McGonagall sighed and stepped to the side. "Miss Granger, I'm sure you know by now that the hallways are not safe places to be wandering about at night. Please go back to your dormitory and stay there until the morning." Without a second glance, she continued on her way.

Hermione walked the rest of the way to the dormitory and walked inside. She knew that had it been any earlier in the school year, points would have been deducted from the Gryffindor House. She walked back to her bedroom and lay down on the bed as quietly as she could. With the letter sent, she quickly fell asleep.

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With dessert having been served, everyone at the table dispersed to their separate bedrooms. Ron had taken Dobby with him while Harry went outside. He immediately felt the cool on air on his skin and he let out a sigh. It was not often that Dobby had visited people, especially Ron. There had come a time when Harry thought that Dobby disliked Ron since he rarely spoke to him. The words came back to him with a rush. He wondered what it was that Dumbledore needed Ron to know, but he knew that it was a secret, otherwise he would have asked to join the two up in Ron's room. Harry made his way through the garden softly kicking the dirt around his feet. He found a tree and sat down beneath it, waiting for Ron to come out and get him.

Ron shut the door behind Dobby and sat down on the bed. "Ok, Dobby, what is it that you need to tell me?"

Dobby looked around the room with curiosity, carefully picking up different objects and then setting them back down with ease. He quickly turned to Ron and said, "I have been sent to tell you that your presence will be requested at Hogwarts during the summer months."

Ron couldn't help but let his mouth hang open. "You mean, I'm going back with Harry?"

"No. Harry will spend time at Hogwarts by himself, but at some point, Dumbledore will come get you and bring you to Hogwarts."

"Why are you telling me this, Dobby?" Ron asked, incredulously.

"Professor Dumbledore has sent Dobby to tell you this. Dobby doesn't know the reasons that he is here, other than to tell Ron Weasley that he will be coming to Hogwarts during the summer to be with Harry Potter. Is this not what you wanted to hear?"

Ron slumped down further on the bed. "No, it's everything I wanted to hear. I just don't know how Dumbledore knew that I wanted it." Ron shook his head and brought his thin hands up to his face, rubbing it furiously, and then letting his hands run through his hair. He still couldn't believe what Dobby had told him. He wanted more than anything to not be apart from Harry during the summer months, and now it seemed that they wouldn't be apart for the whole time. "But what about my family?" Ron asked suddenly.

"They will be told that you are leaving when the time comes. Dobby must be leaving now. Dobby needs to go back to Hogwarts. But Ron Weasley must remember that Harry Potter cannot know that Ron Weasley will be coming to Hogwarts. Ron Weasley must keep this a secret from Harry Potter."

"I don't know if I can do that, Dobby. I tell Harry everything."

"Ron Weasley MUST not tell Harry Potter! Dobby told Dumbledore that Ron Weasley would not be able to keep this from Harry Potter, but Dumbledore told Dobby that Ron Weasley could do it. Ron Weasley must not break Dumbledore's trust in him." Dobby stood in the center of the room and looked around one final time. With a _pop_ he was gone.

Ron sat on the bed and sighed. He did want to be with Harry at Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure how his parents would take the news of him being gone almost the whole summer and the school year. He pushed himself up and walked to the door of his bedroom. He opened it and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. With everyone in their respective bedrooms, the house was relatively quiet. Ron went outside through the back door. He stopped and let his eyes adjust to the darkness and he saw the outline of Harry sitting beneath his favorite tree. He quietly made his way over to Harry and sat down next to him, placing his hand on Harry's inner thigh. It was times like this that he loved the most, when they sat together sharing something so intimate that words could not express.

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Molly sat on the side of her bed while she finished getting ready to go to sleep. Arthur was already under the covers, snoring soundly. She calmly rose from the bed and made her way over to the window. She looked out over the yard and saw the two boys sitting beneath the tree that was Ron's favorite when he was growing up. She watched them for a bit before the yawns started to overtake her, and she could barely keep her eyes open. She walked back to the bed and laid down as she pulled the covers over her. She turned on her side and whispered, "I love you Arthur," as she quickly fell asleep.

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Draco Malfoy froze when he saw the gaunt fingers grasp the door frame. In all the times that he's wanted to leave, he never thought that someone else would find him first. The breath that was in his lungs lunged out into the cold room as a tall white haired man entered the door way. The two looked at each other, one with absolute terror in his eyes, and the other with a sense of compassion. The older man slowly walked into the room and surveyed it. He looked at the young boy and gave a thin smile. "Mr. Malfoy, shouldn't you be in your dorms getting ready to go home?"

Draco looked up at the man, his eyes wide. "Y…You know who I am?" He let his arms fall to his side as he exhaled. The inhalation of breath seemed so sweet to Draco's lungs, as if he had been holding that one breath in for an eternity that it burned. He could feel his face contort with the bitter sweet pain.

"Yes, I know who you are. Do you not remember me?" Professor Dumbledore stood with a rigid composure. He was now finding out the truth of what happened to Draco those few nights ago.

"I don't really remember anything. I woke up and I was in this room. There was no door, but every day there was a meal for me. I said that I wanted a bed, and one appeared. I asked for a window, and books, and instantly they came to me. I don't know what this place is, but I do like it."

The elderly headmaster gave a small chuckle at the boy's vigor. He also noticed that the steel grey of his eyes only intensified that emotion. As he stood there looking at the boy, he could tell that he didn't want to leave the room, but the professor knew that if he didn't, Draco's father would be here in short order to collect his son, and then what would happen to him? Dumbledore stood back on his heels while his brain worked at a solution to this problem. He knew that returning a memory would invoke the oldest of magics, and would not go unnoticed by the Ministry. Although that wasn't really what bothered him, he knew that he alone was not powerful enough to bring back Draco's memory on his own. If he were to do this, he would need help, and he would need to speak with Cornelius Fudge as soon as possible. "Draco," the professor said as he held out his hand for the boy to take "would you please come with me? There is someone that I would like you to meet."

Draco took a step forward. He was unsure about this, but something was telling him that the old man would not hurt him. He let his hand fall into the much older ones. They looked at each other and walked out of the room of requirement on to greater things.

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The darkness grew still as the night pressed on. The birds began to chirp, drawing the attention of the boys. The dark owl swooped down on them and landed in front of Ron before either of them knew what was going on. Without a word, Ron reached out and untied the letter that was attached to its foot. "Who would be sending an owl this late?" He looked over at Harry and saw him shrug in the night. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his wand and lit the tip. He read the letter aloud so Harry could here it as well. When he finished, he extinguished his wand and put it back in his pocket. "You know, that's just like her. We're not there for a couple of days and she's all wonky."

Harry gave a slight chuckle at the thought of Hermione sitting in her dorm pulling her hair out. Although he missed her quite a bit, he was somewhat upset that she didn't trust that they would be OK while they were with Ron's parents. He couldn't remember if she knew why they had left or not, but he thought that they'd better send an owl to her parent's house so she would know that they were both alright. Even as he knew they should do these things, he still didn't want to move. It seemed that all of the things that happened these past few days were coming at him all at once. He pressed himself against Ron and let out a sigh. Harry stood up quickly and put his hand out so that Ron could take it and use it to help himself up. "We had better get to bed, love. It's got to be getting late."

Ron helped himself up with Harry's hand and gave a quick hug. "I think you're right, mate. We should go to bed." He pulled back and Harry could see the glint in Ron's eyes and the wide smile on his face wasn't hiding his point. With a quick squeeze of Harry's hind quarters, Ron led the way back to the kitchen door. When they were halfway there, Ron looked up and saw that all of the lights in the house were off. "Yeah, it must be late; Mum didn't even stay up to tell us goodnight." He reached behind him and groped in the darkness for his boyfriend's hand and squeezed it gently. When they reached the door, Ron opened it as quietly as he could and the boys made their way inside and up the stairs to Ron's room. Ron closed the door behind Harry and immediately turned and wrapped his arms tightly around him. "I've been waiting for some alone time with you. Now that we have it…" Ron let the thought trail off.

"Ron, as much as I would like to, we can't. Your mum and dad are right down the hallway and besides for that, we don't know when Dumbledore is coming to get me. The students are leaving tomorrow morning, so I think it will probably be sometime shortly after they leave."

"I know, this is going to be our last night together until…" Ron stopped himself from continuing. He didn't want to break Dumbledore's trust in him.

"Until next school year, I know, love. But if Dumbledore wants to Apparate, then I'm going to need all of the strength that I can in order to go with him. I'll make up for it, I promise." Harry gave Ron a smile that he knew would get right to Ron's heart. Harry started taking off his shirt and he crawled into the spare bed that had been in here since his first stay. He looked up at Ron. "Aren't you going to get some sleep?"

"Yeah, I will. I want to watch you for a bit." Ron went to the other side of the room and pulled up a chair next to the bed that Harry was in and sat down. Harry's face was illuminated by the moon light. He reached out his hand and ran it through the already messy hair that covered the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He noticed that Harry's breathing had gone deep and he knew that he was sleeping. Ron bent down and gave him a lingering kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you in a couple of weeks, love. Don't forget that I love you." Ron slowly stood up and pushed the chair back from the bed. He glanced back at the sleeping boy once more as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

Ron carefully made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He turned on the lights and went over to the drawer by the sink and withdrew the spare quill and ink, along with some parchment. He turned around and walked over to the kitchen table and sat down where his father always sat, at the head of the table. He immediately started composing his reply to Hermione.

"Hermione,

Harry and I are fine. We have been here most of the time that we were gone from school. We went to tell the Dursleys' about Harry and me, and as we both thought, they didn't take it very well. Although, we got a surprise when his Aunt Petunia joined us when we came back here. It turns out that she's not all that bad. Used to be a witch, but something happened and she put her powers away. Rather interesting stuff if you ask me. But you'll have to ask Harry about it. I have to go now. Talk to you soon.

Ron"

After he finished the letter, he sat up and looked at his penmanship. He hated seeing his chicken scrawl on letters like this, but he didn't have time to worry about that now. He took the letter over to Pig and sent him off to Hermione's parents' house. He knew that Pig would have the letter delivered by morning, or shortly thereafter. After sending the owl out, he went over to the wall and picked up his cloak. Walking into the living room, Ron was sure to turn off the lights that he turned on when he came downstairs. In case he didn't get back in time, he didn't want to alarm anyone with the lights being on. He stopped in front of the fireplace and picked up the little container of Floo powder, then after strapping on his cloak, and making sure that it was secure, he stepped into it. He looked around the living room once more before dropping the powder and saying, "Diagon Alley." The green flames engulfed him and he felt the spinning begin. The next thing he knew, he was stepping out of another fireplace. He had never been here at night, and now he knew why. There were very few people around, but some of the shops were still open. He quickly stepped out of the fireplace and looked around. He was sure that the shop he was looking for would still be open at this hour. At least he hoped that it would. Ron started walking in the direction that the shop was located. When he saw the lights in the windows, he felt his heart start to speed up. He reached the shop and looked in the windows. He was looking for the one item that he came here for, but he wasn't finding it. _Surely they're not out of them! They can't be!_ Ron walked over to the door and reached for the handle. When he felt the cold metal on his fingers, he also felt something else. A sharper feeling. The pain rattled the base of his skull and then seeped throughout his body. He looked at the door and saw the colours of it starting to change. Yellow and blue dots started to flood his vision.

Using all of the strength that he could muster, Ron turned around and faced his assailant. He recognized the long, whitish-blond hair. He brought his arm up and saved his face from a brunt attack. He saw the long black cane swing down on him, but he couldn't move. The silver top struck him directly on the top of his head. More yellow and blue dots, now mixed with red, blurred his vision. He could feel the warm blood starting to trickle down the top of his head. The older man swung behind him and held him in a kind of embrace. This embrace was not friendly. He was being squeezed so tightly that he felt he couldn't breathe. The pressing on his chest forced the air out of his lungs. He felt himself being spun around until something met the side of him with a loud thump. Ron could feel his ribs cracking under the blunt assault. Another sharp pain in his chest and he felt two of his ribs snap under the quickly applied pressure. He doubled over in pain and was blindsided when the fist met with his nose. Ron felt the blood disgorge from its holding under his skin and screamed in pain.

The assailant reached out and grabbed the young red head by his hair and brutally forced him back into an alley. He thrust Ron into the corner of the building and he could hear his arm snap. Grabbing the front of his hair again, he thrust the back of his head into the building with enough force to hear some of the bones cracking. The attacker balled his hands into fists again and thrust them quickly into Ron's sternum. The newly applied pressure of the brunt force caused the strong bone to split. The young boy fell to the ground listlessly. He could hear small groans of pain emanating from the young child. Nothing he had ever done in his life had felt as good as what he had done at this moment.

He knew that the reports in the Daily Prophet were probably false, as was everything else in it, but this was an opportunity he could not pass up. The way that they had tried to live their lives of debauchery in secrecy proved that the articles were true. Of course, the assailant had no proof that it was true, but he _felt _that it was true, and that was all he needed. For several years he had gone off of the feelings that his gut gave him. This was not a time to change now. He had already started, and he didn't quit things once he started them. He looked at the ground and he felt his top lip curl into an involuntary sneer, "You bloody little nancy boy. And it doesn't help that you're family is one of the worst of the pure blood wizarding families that still lives. This just tops everything." He brought his foot up and let it connect with his side. He stepped a little to the side and brought his foot back once again and let it fly into Ron's face. He saw his victim's head roll backwards, then forwards, then nothing. He had either blacked out or he had killed him. He hoped for the latter, but he couldn't stay to find out. He wrapped his cloak around him and wiped the blood off of his hands on the inner part of his cloak. He knew there was a reason that he picked the dark red colour for the inside. It all seemed so apparent now. As quickly as he had come upon the boy, he departed.

Ron lay in the alley shivering, bleeding and broken. He tried to call for help, but he knew that his voice was barely above a whisper. He used all of the strength he could to hold on. The last thing he could remember was the sun starting to rise and the darkness started to turn to a light grey of morning.

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Professor Dumbledore and Draco walked into the large office. He was surprised to see Cornelius Fudge standing in the middle of the room, and he asked Draco to sit down in the closest chair. "Cornelius, I hope that things are well with the Ministry."

Fudge looked down and then back up at Draco, then to Dumbledore. "Things are fine at the Ministry. I trust things are alright here? Your owl made it seem quite urgent that I arrive as soon as possible. It kept tapping at my window until I answered it." He let out a sigh. "So what is it that is so important?"

Dumbledore looked at the blond boy sitting beside him and lowered his hand onto his shoulder. "It seems that Mr. Malfoy here has lost his memory."

"What do you mean by lost?" Fudge asked.

"What do you think I mean, Cornelius? One of the other students has erased his memory. I would like to know what happened at that point and shortly before it."

"Albus, you know that recovering a memory takes a magic that is stronger than most wizards that live today. And to top it off, recovering the memory of a minor breaks a lot of Ministry laws."

"Cornelius, you know we can't have Lucius Malfoy's son without a memory. Lucius will be quite upset if he finds out that another student has done this to his son."

"I don't understand what you're asking of me. What do you want me to do?"

"I would like you to take Draco to the Ministry and get your best Healers on this as soon as possible. Before you return his memories to him, I would like you to send them here so I can go through them. I'm sure that there are things that need to be removed before he gets them back."

"Albus, you can't be serious! On top of breaking the laws of returning a memory to a minor, you want to break more laws and pick and choose which ones he will have? That's ludicrous."

"Let me put it this way. Would you rather do this in secrecy and get it taken care of before morning when the students leave to go home, or would you rather deal with a very angry Lucius Malfoy?"

"You make your point very clear." Cornelius Fudge walked over to Draco and stood in front of him. "Stand up please. Have you ever traveled by Floo before?"

Draco looked dumbfounded. "What's a Floo?"

Fudge looked at Dumbledore with a pleading look. He let out a deep sigh. "Alright, but you owe me for this, professor." He walked with Draco to the fireplace and picked up a big handful of Floo powder. "Please hold on to me very tightly." When Draco had a full tight grip on the minister of magic, Fudge threw the powder to the ground and spoke loudly, "Ministry of Magic!" The green flames rose quickly. The last thing that Dumbledore heard was a loud shriek coming from the young Malfoy.

Professor Dumbledore quickly walked to his desk and sat down. There was still much to do before the students awoke and were sent to their homes for the summer. As he pulled a piece of parchment in front of him, he was surprised to see the green flames arise from where they had just settled. He set down his quill and folded his hands. He didn't want to have this meeting now, but it had to be done. He gave a meager smile as the blond woman stepped from the fireplace. "Ms. Skeeter, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You know me Professor, all work and no play." She let out a nervous laugh. "I'm here to ask you some questions for a new article that I'm working on."

"And what would my knowledge offer to this article?"

"As a community, we would like to know how Harry Potter works. What goes on inside his head. You're the only one who can answer these questions for us."

"One would think the best person to ask would be Harry himself."

"Yes, very true, but that lovely Harry has declined all of my requests."

"Well yes, after the things that you've recently published about him, I can understand his reasoning," Dumbledore interrupted.

Rita's hand flew to her chest and she shook her head. "I meant no harm with those articles. I was only speaking what I know to be truth. I am a journalist after all. That _is_ my job."

"Your articles are not proof, Ms. Skeeter. What Harry does behind closed doors is not your or anyone else in the community's business."

"So you're admitting to Harry's homosexuality?"

Professor Dumbledore tightened the grip on his own hands. It was important for him not to show anger, especially in front of Rita Skeeter. He didn't need this conversation to end up in the next edition of the Daily Prophet, and he had the sudden urge to tell her exactly what he thought of her. "No, Ms. Skeeter, I am not admitting to Harry's homosexuality. If Harry is a homosexual, then it is news to me." He gave a thin smile before continuing, "Now, if you don't mind, I have urgent school business that I need to attend to before the students have to leave in the morning." He stood, making sure that his point was received the way he intended and stretched his arm to the fireplace. The professor watched as the blond woman stood and walked over to the doorway, opened it, and left that way, instead of the way that she arrived. With the hour being as late as it was, he knew that all of the students would be in their respective common rooms, if not already in bed. He sat back down and again pulled the parchment to him and picked up his quill. He only had a little time before the students would wake and would be sent home. With a frustrated sigh he pushed the parchment away from him. Now it was time for the necessary sleep that he would need. He stood from his desk and walked over to his private sleeping quarters and readied himself for sleep. Before his eyes closed, he was already latent.

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A shrill scream filled the night. Hermione bolted up in her bed and looked around. "What in the bloody hell was that all about?" she asked aloud to herself. The dream that woke her quickly left her memory. She again looked about the room, but saw nothing that stuck out in her mind as not being normal. She laid back down, closing her eyes, but immediately sat back up. The feeling of nervous terror quickly ebbed as she opened her eyes. _Was it really that bad of a dream?_ she thought. The more she tried to delve into the dream, the further it receded. Finally giving in to the realization that she couldn't go back to bed, she pushed the sheets back and swung her legs over the side. Her hand came up and ran through the bushy brown hair on top of her head. She let out a sigh and stood, walking to the trunk at the end of her bed. _If I can't sleep, I may as well finish packing._

She bent down and lifted the lid to her trunk and saw how little she had left to do. Hermione sat on the floor and began to rearrange the items that she had already packed away. Moving her set of quills and ink to the other side, making sure the stoppers were firmly set in the ink bottles, she then made sure they were protected by the clothes she had torn and made ragged throughout the year. Looking into the trunk again, Hermione realized all she had left to pack were the books which rested on her nightstand. She quietly stood and walked over to the side of her bed and sat down.

With her constant worrying about Ron and Harry she hadn't spent the usual time she did reading. She looked through the titles that she had brought with her, and some that she had purchased while the students had their trips to Hogsmeade. She reached out and took the top one off the stack and opened the cover. She noticed something now that she had missed the first time in reading the book, and even receiving it. There was a small inscription from Ron. "'Mione, didn't know what else to get you for your birthday. Hope you haven't already read it. Ron." Seeing his small, extremely bad handwriting brought forth emotions she thought she had hidden away. Again she was taken over by the feeling of being scared. She hoped when she met her parents at Kings Cross Station later on that morning they would have a letter for her from the boys. She let out a sigh and closed the book.

Morning light was beginning to flow freely into the windows. The windows to the girl's dormitory were open and a soft warm breeze came into the room. Chirping could be heard from the birds outside as they cried from their early morning hunger. The sun, having fully raised just a couple of hours ago, began making the room almost unbearable to stay in. Hermione picked up the stack of books and carefully placed them into her trunk. She closed the lid and latched it, then made sure the belts were secure. She stole a glance around the room once more before leaving and heading down to the common room to sit and wait for everyone else to wake up for breakfast.

As she walked down the stairs she was once again overcome by the feeling of something not being right. The lightheadedness took her by surprise as she almost fell down the rest of the stairs. She steadied herself on the wall and looked around, hoping silently that no one had seen the clumsiness. After seeing no one else in the corridor she let out a sigh of relief, continued down, and finally made her entrance in the Gryffindor common room. She saw it was empty, but noticed that the fireplace was already lit. Even when the weather was warm, the house elves liked the ambience that a fireplace gave to a room, so they were usually lit all year round, or at least the whole time the students were at the school. She couldn't vouch for the summer months since she was never there during that time period, but she was sure if someone were to stay here over the summer, the fireplaces would be lit.

Hermione walked over to the leather chairs by the hearth and sat down. It wasn't the same without her two best friends here, but she knew that she would just have to deal with the fact that she wouldn't see either of them until the end of the summer when she always went to the Burrow. For this reason, she hoped the summer would pass quickly. There was so much she wanted to tell them, but she knew it would all have to wait. Thinking that she should get an early start on her day, Hermione stood and walked to the doorway. She went into the Great Hall and saw several of her house mates already seated and eagerly talking of the trip home and the things they wanted to show their parents. Hermione walked over and joined them; getting caught up in the conversation, her feelings of odd fear had left her.

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Ron could hear several people talking around him. He wondered where he was, but couldn't open his eyes or move any part of his body. He was shrouded in pain. He wanted to scream out to let these people know that he was hurting them, but his mouth wouldn't work. He had something pushed through his nose into his throat. He could feel it pushing air into his lungs. _What in the bloody hell happened to me? Why can't I move? What's going on?_ He tried to think back on everything that had happened to him the night before when he was in Diagon Alley, but the only thing that came to him was the robust man helping him stand up asking if he was ok. Even then Ron couldn't talk. He remembered shivering uncontrollably. The pain was so strong then, so much more real then what he was experiencing right now. He remembered the man continuing to talk when all he wanted to do was go to sleep. He wanted to lash out at the man to shut up, but he was told not to sleep. He remembered fearing that if he fell asleep he wouldn't wake up. That was it until now, hearing the voices above him.

"Ok, we've done our best to mend the arm. It seems the ribs that broke went into one of his lungs. His sternum is cracked and his heart has some lacerations on it. Luckily he was brought in when he was. Don't know how long he would have made it. Nurse, can you please notify this boy's family that he's in St. Mungo's? "

"Yes, sir."

Ron heard footsteps getting further away from him. _Why am I at the hospital?_ He could feel his consciousness slipping away from him.

"Merlin, that's a lot of blood."

Ron coasted to unconsciousness.

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Harry woke, slowly stretching his arms and legs. He opened his eyes and saw the inside of Ron's room. It had been such a long time since he had slept so well. He rolled over and felt the other side of the bed. _Ron must have slept somewhere else last night_. He sat up and threw the covers away from him. For being so early, it was awfully warm in the room. He went over to the dresser and pulled out a light blue shirt and blue jeans, along with a pair of bright green boxers. As he changed his clothes, he began thinking of what it would be like to stay the summer at Hogwarts. He knew that Ron would be visiting him in a couple of weeks, though how that arrangement had been made, he had no clue. Ron must have thought he was sleeping, because it sounded like it was supposed to be a surprise for him. He took delight in knowing that he wouldn't be alone the entire summer. After getting dressed, Harry walked downstairs and saw Molly busying herself in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. Knowing that Arthur had probably already left for work, Harry sat down at the head of the table. Still somewhat sleepy, Harry groggily said, "Good morning Molly."

Molly let out a small shriek. Not expecting Harry to be up for a couple more hours, he surprised her. She turned around and regarded him carefully, "Good morning, Harry. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did. I haven't slept so well in a long time."

"That's good, dear. Where's Ron?"

"Umm, I don't know," Harry replied while scratching his head. "I think he slept in Ginny's room last night. He must have known that I would need all of the strength that I would get, and you know how Ron is when he sleeps." Harry gave a chuckle.

"Yes, I do, dear." Turning back around to the stove, Molly asked, "Would you like some breakfast, dear?"

"Yes, please," Harry said while smoothing out the small wrinkles in his shirt. When he looked up, he saw Molly bringing over a heaping plate of bacon, eggs, and potatoes. "I don't think I can eat all of this," he said with his mouth hanging open at the size of the proportions on the plate in front of him.

"Oh, hush. You say that every time, Harry. And like you said, you need your strength for today. Do you know when you're leaving?"

"No. I think Dumbledore will probably show up sometime after the students have left. That way he won't have to answer loads of questions about why I'm not getting ready with everyone else," Harry said in between taking bites of food.

"He always was a smart man." Molly said. "Even when I was a student there, he was ahead of his time."

Harry nodded as he had just taken a big bite of food. He was chewing quickly.

"Slow down, Harry. No one is going to take your food." She laughed at the thought of her own children protecting their plates when meal times came. Molly walked back over to the stove and with her wand set everything to simmer so none of it would burn while waiting for Petunia to wake. She then made her way back over to the table and sat down in the seat to Harry's left. Waiting patiently for him to finish his food, she lifted the newest edition of The Daily Prophet and read to herself. She let out a gasp. She could see Harry perk up his head and look at her. "It's nothing, dear." She told him while he continued eating. She had known about the rumors for quite some time now, but hated that someone else would talk about her child and his boyfriend that way. She set the paper down and noticed that Harry had finished eating and was intently watching her.

"Everything alright, Molly?" he asked sincerely.

"Yes, dear, everything is fine. Did you enjoy your food?"

"Yes, it was wonderful, as always," Harry said with a slight blush.

"Thank you. Ron should be in some time. You know he never misses a meal."

Harry laughed uproariously at the comment. He now wondered why Ron was not awake and down here shoveling food into his mouth. _He probably just wants to be alone right now._ He was torn from his thoughts when he heard Molly's voice.

"Are you nervous about spending the summer at Hogwarts?"

Harry wasn't quite sure how to respond. He didn't know if Molly knew that Ron would be joining him in a couple of weeks or not. He decided to play it safe. "No, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will have things for me to do, probably catching up on the studies that I missed while we were here."

A loud knock at the door surprised the two sitting at the kitchen table. Molly stood and walked over to the door and opened the top half. Professor Dumbledore stood on the other side. "Oh, Professor, so nice to see you."

"Good morning, Molly. I trust that things are well here now?"

"Things are wonderful. Thank for you allowing the boys to come and talk to us."

"It's not a problem, Molly. But if you would, please let Harry know I'm here. We really have to be going now."

Molly turned and saw Harry right behind her. She opened the bottom half of the door and watched as he walked outside and the two walked only a little down the path. Harry grabbed on to Dumbledore and held on as tightly as he could. The next thing she knew, she was looking at an empty walk way. She closed the doors and walked back into the kitchen and picked up Harry's empty plate and glass, putting them in the sink. She walked over to the stairs and readied herself to yell for Ron, but then remembered the other sleeping guest in the house. Molly walked up the stairs and quietly opened Ginny's bedroom door. Looking inside she saw no Ron, and no sign that he had been in there. She then went to his room and thought that maybe he had switched rooms after hearing Harry get up. Glancing in the room she saw no sign on her son. She then thought that since Harry had left today, maybe he wanted some time to himself. She knew that trying to badger him and talk to him wouldn't do any good. Walking by the bathroom she gave a slightly loud knock, getting no answer she opened the door and again did not find her son. _He must be outside somewhere_. Molly walked back down the stairs and into the kitchen. After throwing away the newspaper, she sat down with a cup of tea, and waited for Petunia to wake up.

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Hermione sat in an otherwise empty compartment on the train to Kings Cross Station. The train was slowing down as they finally reached their destination. After finding her trunk and maneuvering around the other students on the train, she finally stepped on to the platform. Immediately seeing her parents, she ran over to them and ripped the letter out of her dad's hands. Reading it, she gave a quick sigh. She was pulled from her reverie by hearing her mother's voice. "Nice to see you too, honey."

Hermione looked up at her parents, "Oh, I'm sorry." She hugged them, giving them each a tight squeeze. "How have you two been?"

Her mother gave her a positive answer as they all walked to the parking lot to go home.

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Petunia heard the opening and closing of doors and wondered what was going on. She pushed the sheets to her side and got up. She dressed quickly and went into the bathroom to fix her hair. When she was done she walked down the stairs and saw Molly sitting in the kitchen. Wondering what the time was, Petunia glanced up at the clock recessed in the wall. Seeing only pictures and words she quickly found Harry's and saw it was pointed toward "School". As she continued to study the clock she noticed that Ron's hand was pointed to "Mortal Peril", she wondered about this. "Molly, what kind of clock is this?"

Molly, hearing Petunia stood and walked to where she was. "Oh, that clock shows where everyone is at any given time." She then looked up at the clock. She saw that one of the hands was in a spot that it had never been in before. "Mortal Peril." She started to breathe quickly as the kitchen door burst open.

Arthur was walking quickly through the house. He saw the two women standing by the clock. "Molly, we have to go. Ron's in St. Mungo's." Molly quickly ran in to the kitchen and with a flick of her wand, shut off the stove. She ignored her traveling cloak and walked outside.

Petunia was in her wake. "Mind if I come along?"

Molly looked at her as if she had gone mad. "Just grab onto Arthur and hold on tightly." Before Petunia could say anything else, she heard a loud pop and Molly was gone. She then looked back at the house and saw Arthur shutting and locking the door. He looked around to try to find Molly but could not.

"She's already gone. She said I'm supposed to go with you, if that's alright," Petunia said uneasily.

"That's fine. I just need you to hold on to me. Hold on as tightly as you can, and whatever you do, don't let go."

Petunia stretched her arms around her new friend's husband and almost crushed him under her strength. "Not that tight," Arthur said with a slight chuckle.

"I'm sorry," Petunia apologized, blushing a little. With another pop, they were gone as well.

By the time they appeared at St. Mungo's, Molly was badgering one of the hospital staff trying to find out what was going on with her son. Arthur and Petunia walked up to hear the nurse tell the boy's mother that he was in with the healers right now, and that one of the healers would be out to speak with them when they could. The nurse motioned over to the waiting room and asked the three to have a seat. When the two parents sat down, Petunia still stood in front of them. "I think someone ought to let Harry know about what's going on."

"You're right, but you can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds," Molly replied.

"Where is the closest town?"

"Hogsmeade. You can see the castle from there."

Before Molly could look up, the two heard a loud pop and she was gone.

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Upon her first Apparition, Petunia was quite disoriented when she arrived in Hogsmeade. Molly was right; she could see the castle from where she stood. She took off at a quick run and caught the older professor with her nephew as they were just stepping on to the grounds of the school.

Harry looked over at her bewildered. "Aunt Petunia, why are you here?"

"Harry we need to go. Something's happened to Ron."

Before Harry could press him, Professor Dumbledore put his arms around both of them. "We'll be there soon, Harry." The three disappeared from where they were just standing on the road to the school.

What seemed like hours later, the three landed outside the hospital doors. Harry ran in and saw the Healer walking over towards Molly and Arthur. Harry could hear him talking.

"I'm sorry; we've done everything we could. The lacerations to his heart were bleeding too much. I'm so sorry."

Molly's voice could be heard throughout the hospital as she lost her youngest son.

-END OF CHAPTER 12-


	13. Clarity

**Warm Night at Hogwarts**

**Chapter 13**

"**Clarity"**

Molly's scream was heard throughout the hallways of St. Mungo's. Harry watched as the healer disappeared behind the wall and heard the doors click as they shut tightly together. He leaned against his Aunt for support and looked around. Everything was happening so fast that Harry could feel himself start to become delirious. The harsh lighting slowly began to get soft as his eyes closed. Harry didn't even feel his head hit the floor.

The bustle around the waiting room increased as another sharp scream rose out from someone standing in the group that had just come rushing in the doorway. The older man was no longer with the boy and the woman, but that was just a fact that they would have to deal with later on. The nurses came running from their station over to the raven haired boy now lying on the floor. "Get the smelling salts. This boy's fainted." One of the other nurses quickly ran to a door in the wall opposite the small group that had begun to congregate around Harry and his family. She returned with a small jar and waved it under the boy's nose.

Harry awoke from his stupor to several nurses standing over him. His frightened stare caused them to jump back. Murmurs of his name could be heard from the people that had joined them to see if the young lad was alright. He was pulled back to reality when he heard Molly's sobs. Only the voice didn't exactly sound like Molly's anymore. This voice sounded oddly too familiar to him. This was a voice that he had come to feel sorry for during the summers while he was in Little Whinging, waiting to go back to school. It was the voice of his distraught Aunt Petunia. She was mumbling something incoherently about loosing one of the boys and then almost loosing the other.

Suddenly, Harry remembered where he was, in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, awaiting news on his boyfriend. He tried to sit up, but the feeling of extreme lightheadedness caused him to lie back down. The nurses all stood and slowly made their way back to whatever it was that they were doing before his incident. Several of them would look back occasionally, as if not believing that Harry Potter was standing in front of them just a bit ago. Petunia came running over to Harry and dropped into a crouch while she balanced on the balls of her feet. She quickly brushed her bony hand through his hair. She stopped herself short as the thought of how foreign this felt to her sunk in. She immediately regretted everything she had done to Harry throughout the times that he was staying with them. Especially the first eleven years before they realized that he was a wizard. After his first year at school, everything had somewhat evened out around the house as to who threw the weight around. It stayed that way every summer until he went back to school. Of course, there was always Dudley picking on the smaller boy as a show of who was more masculine. Petunia hated seeing this happen, but knew if she stepped in, Vernon would be suspicious. She always had a weak spot in her heart for the younger boy, but now knew why. These past years had seemed to go by too fast. She wished for more time, she wished that she could go back and hold him a little longer while he was a baby. She wished she could go back and change the fact that they had never celebrated one of Harry's birthdays. The tears began to threaten her as they filled the bottoms of her eyes. She did not want to cry in front of him. Even with everything they had been through these past days, some part of her was still telling her that she had to be stronger than him. She had to be the adult. She wondered if her motherly instinct was kicking in for him. For this she could not be sure, but she wanted it to happen so badly. The urge to protect him kicked in and she let her hand continue on its path through his hair. She surprised herself when she leaned down and caught herself kissing the scar on his forehead. When she pulled back, she saw the startled look on her nephew's face. She took her hand and entwined it with his and helped him stand up. She carefully helped him walk to the chairs in the middle of the room and lowered him into a seat. Petunia sat next to him still holding his hand, every now and then giving it a light squeeze. She could feel herself smile when she felt him squeeze back.

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The Healer stood above the teenager on the operating table. He looked down with amazement when he realized what he was seeing was really happening. The youngster's body was purging itself of the bad tissue. In all the years that he had been a healer, he had never seen anything like this. He knew no spell that would have this reaction. He watched as the pale chest pushed outward with every beat of the boy's heart. He knew that the boy's lung was still punctured by the ragged, fatigued breathing. Someone was watching out for this boy, and the doctor would like to know who. After a while of watching the boy stabilized himself, he walked back out to the waiting room. Had he turned his head a little more to the right, he would have seen an older man with a long white beard standing in the corner of the room.

The healer made his way slowly down the corridor to the waiting room. He saw the family in waiting, and asked them to come with him to a conference room where they could talk a bit more privately. He saw the dark haired boy start to rise and motioned for him to stay seated. "I'm sorry young man, but this is for family only." He saw the look on Harry's face change from hope to resignation. The boy's body slumped back in the chair with defeat. As he continued walking, he realized that no one was following him. He turned and pleaded with the obvious parents of this boy to follow him quietly. He didn't need a big scene in the waiting room of the hospital. He was surprised when the thin dark haired woman pulled herself out of the chair with such velocity that the chair flew from behind her, tumbling end over end.

Petunia could not believe what she had heard. She marched over to the man in the white overcoat and stopped only when her long face was inches from his. "Excuse me sir, but I don't think you understand the situation." Petunia glanced to her side when she felt Molly's hand on her arm. The rotund woman gave her a slight smile and a nod of approval. Knowing that the Weasley's would not go anywhere in this hospital without her and Harry. Or at least without Harry. She turned back to the man in front of her and regarded him with fury. "My nephew is just as much family to them as his parents."

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about that. The hospital regulations clearly states that I can only speak with the family regarding special matters of a patient. Not to mention that this patient is a minor." The Healer gently shook his head as if he was trying to show that he didn't agree with the hospital's policy regarding this matter.

"Now, you listen to me!" Petunia's hands fisted at her sides. "My nephew has just as much right to be in that room as Ron's parents do. There is nothing you or your hospital can do to stop us from going in there with them." Petunia glanced back at Harry and saw the worried look on his face. This did nothing but embolden her more. "Look at him!" She reached up and thrust the healer's face towards the boy sitting in the chair, still looking defeated. "Does that look like the face of someone who doesn't care for the boy in that operating room? Does that look like the face of just a concerned friend? Well, _SIR_," she spat, almost as if the word were sulfur in her mouth, "that boy sitting here is your patient's bloody boyfriend!" She realized that she had said the latter of her statement a lot louder than she had intended. She saw several people looking at her and the healer, then their gaze falling to Harry. Before anyone needed tell her, she realized that she had made a big mistake.

"Boyfriend or not, there is nothing I can do."

"RUBBISH! You will continue walking back to that conference room and we will follow you. Besides, whatever you tell Ron's parents will be told to us anyway. You're just taking out the middle man."

The Healer looked around and saw that many people were still watching them. He did not need this, on all days, especially today. The Minister of Magic was due in sometime today to make sure that everything was running smoothly with the hospital. He had a feeling that the Minister would walk in at any moment in the middle of this scene. He feared loosing his job. He loved helping the people that came in here. He loved being able to share good news of life with family members, but it was times like this that he didn't like. Times when his authority was being challenged. Times when he had to share bad news or news that didn't make sense. It was things like this that he had grown accustomed to over the years. These types of things, that other healers started saying that he was gong soft on. He took a step back and moved his hand to the side, showing the way to the door. He knew that if he kept denying them privilege into the conference room, he would only create a bigger scene. He watched as the rotund redhead followed by her husband, and then followed by the young raven haired boy, and finally the aunt that had caused the scene. He quickly made his way to the front of the group and led the way to the large conference room.

Molly had never seen a room quite like this before. In the center was a dark stained wooden table. There were at least fourteen chairs all set around it. The soft burgundy leather matched the hard carpet. Their footsteps muffled as they all made their way to the table and picked out chairs. She looked around the room at the different portraits of the past head healers. Several of them moved around and conversed amongst themselves while others were staring intently upon the group that just entered. She had a feeling that anything that happened in this room was far from private. She began to feel unnerved at the fact that all of these former healers would have the opportunity to hear everything that was going on with her son. Through the anger, rationale started to show itself by making her realize that this might be a good thing. These portraits were of past healers and therefore could offer more advice into their situation. She was not as upset as her eyes locked onto Harry's. From the look she saw on his face, Harry was just as scared as the rest of them. Molly was again reminded of the love that the two boys openly shared with her not too long ago. Her heart cried out for him, she wanted to run around the table and hold him in her arms, instead she reached her hands out and allowed Harry to take them. She offered a gentle squeeze and tried to give him a reassuring look, but knew the attempt was futile.

Harry's fingers trembled as he returned the gentle squeeze. As much as he would have liked to look Molly in the eyes, his gaze traveled down to the dark table. He knew he shouldn't have been in that room. He knew the information that was going to be shared, wasn't supposed to be heard by his ears, yet somehow, he was here. He didn't really remember walking down the corridor to get here, or walking through the door. All he knew was that he was seated at a large table and preparing for the worst news he could ever imagine getting. The semi dark room began to fade away again as the thoughts of loosing his boyfriend crept into his mind once again. Harry shut his eyes and shook the thoughts away. He knew what would happen to him if he was ever told that Ron was dead. He knew exactly the process he would need to go about to receive the appropriate results. His hand tightened against Molly's out of desperation, as he looked up to see the healer standing at the head of the table with his wand in his hand.

Kevin Borris looked around the table once before waving his wand with a silent spell. He watched as the past healers on the walls quickly fell into a deep sleep. _Now that we have some privacy_ he thought to himself. He hated this room. He never liked having to bring families in here to share with them the news of recently departed loved ones. Although each situation was different, the results were always the same. The family ended up in tears. He knew there was nothing he could do, other than offer them kind words. Despite the fact that this meeting wasn't necessarily bad, or to give them bad news, he still felt that this room wasn't the right place for this. He longed for another room where no portraits hung on the walls, and voices didn't need to automatically seem hushed. With his left hand, he quickly put his wand back in his pocket and took the seat at the head of the table. His hands routinely folded in front of him as he sucked in a breath. "It seems we made a mistake." Kevin said as his eyes fixed on a knot in the table. A loud gasp was heard, and he knew without looking up that it was the redhead's mother. "Before you ask what kind of mistake, please let me explain. Your son…" He paused and looked at the boy with the wild black hair, "and your boyfriend, was brought in early this morning by a stranger. He had no clue of what happened to him, but by the time I got to him, he had lost most of his consciousness. We had done all we could to save him." Kevin's eyes still locked with Harry's. "We had lost him for a short time, but it seems that someone is watching out for him." He let his eyes scan across the people sitting in front of him. "When I got back into the room, I saw something I'm still having trouble believing. Your son's body was purging the bad tissue from itself. His heart was beating, but it's bruised. We patched up the lacerations as best we could. Our nurses are taking him to recovery right now. Your son's still alive." Borris stood and quickly walked to the door, letting his eyes fall on Harry once again. "There may be some things you want to get before you see him later today. I would strongly suggest not wearing bright colours when you see him for the first time either. We don't know the extent of the damage that was done to him mentally." He nodded his head and quickly left the room and shut the door behind him. He could hear soft murmurings as he started down the corridor.

"He's alive." Arthur said with disbelief.

"Yes dear, he's alive." Molly repeated with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

"So then he's ok?" Petunia asked.

"We don't know. I'm assuming so since he's going to recovery now." Arthur said. "Only time will tell. I'm sure he's not out of the woods yet, but the best thing is for us to be here for him when he wakes up."

Harry lifted his head. His eyes firmly locked with Molly's. "Mrs. Weasley, can I talk to you in the hallway please?"

Molly nodded and stood. She walked to the door and waited for Harry to exit first. She shut the door behind her, leaving her husband with Petunia to try and make sense of everything that was going on.

Petunia sat in shock still trying to digest the news of what they were just told. _Ron's ok. He's still alive. His body is purging itself of the bad tissue._ "Wait!" She bellowed. "What does he mean Ron's body is purging itself of bad tissue?" She looked to Arthur for answers, but knew that she wouldn't be receiving any. By the look on his face, he was just now digesting this news as well. When his eyes met hers, she wasn't surprised to find them rimming with tears. Petunia stood and quickly walked around the table and before she could stop herself, her arms were wrapped around Arthur. Her hold was tight and comforting.

Arthur let his head fall into her shoulder as he sobbed. Today's events were taking quite a toll on him. First, there was that secret issue with the minister at Hogwarts this morning, then him finding out that his youngest son was in St. Mungo's and was told to leave immediately to collect his wife. He didn't want to think about the rest of what had happened. He looked up as he heard the door opening once again, letting a gasp escape his lips. "How did you hear about…?" He let his voice trail off. He stood and walked to the young men standing in the doorway, holding his arms out, he embraced his twin sons. The Weasley family bond had never been tried in such an extravagant manner. Before Arthur could take the boys to the table there was a sudden sharp knock on the door. The eldest Weasley turned quickly and opened the door. He gazed out at his eldest son Bill. The door flew open and Bill walked into the conference room looking around. "Where's Mum?" He asked quietly.

"Your mum's out talking with Harry right now. They should just be in the corridor." Arthur said as he saw his three sons shaking their heads.

"They're not out there Dad." Fred quipped.

"Yeah, we would have seen them on our way back here." George added.

Bill looked at Petunia and gave his father a questioning look. Arthur looked back at the table and saw Harry's aunt still sitting there, looking dumbfounded at the new people. "It's a long story son. Why don't you three sit down?" He rushed back to the table and pulled out three chairs to accommodate his newly arrived sons. When he sat himself down, he looked up to ask how they had heard when Bill interrupted him. "Charlie's on his way. I sent him an owl as soon as I heard. Then I came here. What happened dad?"

Petunia sat next to Arthur, but knew that her place here wasn't the same now. She knew the Weasley's accepted Harry, and Molly and Arthur accepted her, but she never really gave much thought to the rest of Ron's family. What they would think about all of this. _Do any of them even know about the boys' relationship?_ Petunia felt like this would be an appropriate time for the world to open up and swallow her whole. She looked up at the twins and recognition hit her. They came with their father to get Harry one year before school started. Apologies started flowing through her mind. This was not the time or the place for such things; she would wait until they knew Ron was better. Her eyes went to the much taller and obviously much older one, nodding a hello.

Bill looked at Petunia with question, then looking a his father, "Dad, whose this, and why is she in here?"

Arthur walked back to Petunia and put his arm on her shoulder. "This is"

"She's a _muggle_." Fred interrupted. He looked over at Petunia and saw the red quickly colour her cheeks.

"FRED WEASLEY! You do not talk about Harry's aunt like that. She is just as much family to us as Harry is, what with the boys…" Arthur let himself trail off.

"Speaking of Harry, where is the nancy boy?" George asked with a smile playing on his lips. He was blindsided by his dad's hand catching him on the back of the head. Reaching up he rubbed the now sore spot muttering under his breath. "Bloody hell that hurt dad."

"Good, it was supposed to. Now, as I was saying, with the boys' rel…"

A loud pop could be heard from the hall. Arthur turned to see his second oldest and youngest children walking into the room. He rushed over and hugged them both. "How is he dad?" Charlie asked.

With a face flushed from loosing his cool, Arthur leaned back against a chair. "I was just getting to that before I was interrupted…Again."

Charlie looked around the room and saw all of his siblings except for Percy sitting at the table. He figured that Percy wouldn't be bothered by something this inconvenient to his time. He shook his head at the thought of finding something more important than his own family, but he knew how Percy was, and knew that it would take an order by the Minister himself to get Percy here. "I'm sorry dad, please continue." Charlie said as he put his hand on Ginny's back and ushered her into a seat next to Fred. He looked at George, who still continued rubbing the back of his head and smiled knowing that George had probably said something inappropriate.

Arthur let out a sigh. "Now, as I was saying. With Ron and Harry's relationship, Molly and I thought it appropriate that his aunt be here with him." He looked around to gage his children's reactions and wasn't disappointed to see the shocked look cross his daughter's face. Bill and Charlie showed no reaction from which he could tell how they felt about the information they just heard. He was glad to see that neither of his eldest boys had stormed out of the room in anger. The silence in the room was broken by a giggle. Arthur looked over to see the twins poking each other and making kissing sounds. His anger at that point was higher than it had ever been before. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at them and muttered something under his breath and watched as both boys' bodies went rigid and their eyes found his. He spoke slowly, making sure to emphasize his point. "This…is…not…the…time…or…place…for…such…nonsense." He was sure that they would have nodded in response, but found themselves unable to move against the spell.

Bill and Charlie looked at each other, their eyes questioning. Bill looked to his father and asked the question before Charlie. "So, by relationship you mean?" He let his father figure out the rest of the statement.

"Yes. Harry and Ron are together. As in their seeing each other. Now, I know you may not expect this, but…"

"It's about bloody time." Charlie spoke up. A smile crept on his face. "We knew that Ron was different from us since the time we caught him in mum's closet." He looked to Bill for acknowledgement, who nodded sullenly.

"Yeah, we always knew, we were just waiting for the word that he had finally told someone. He begged us not to tell anyone, he was so scared of what you would think of him."

Arthur stood dumbfounded. He had not expected this revelation from his sons. He had no knowledge of his youngest son's escapades in their mother's closet. Memories started coming back to him from times when Ron was younger, how he would always go to his mother first. He distinctly remembered when Ron first started becoming a man. The young lad would strive to stay out of his father's way so he wouldn't have to hear "the talk." Finally, time took its course and the two sat up in Ron's bedroom for hours, although Ron never spoke his mind on the subject. It amazed him now how little he actually knew about his son. Arthur hung his head. He pulled his wand back out and pointed it the twins, releasing them from their invisible confines.

"About time." Fred said.

"Yeah dad. Did you really have to go that far? Seems a bit harsh, ya know?"

Arthur held up his hand and shook his head. "Not now boys. There are other things we need to focus on." He looked to Petunia and realized that she was looking around at everyone at the table. Walking over to her, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

She nodded in response. "Who is everyone?"

Arthur made introductions and looked at her. He could tell there was something else on her mind.

"How many children do you have?" Petunia asked.

"Enough."

"Oh, is this all of them, or are there others?"

"Well, there's our prat of a brother Percy, but it would take a special order from the Minister to get him here." George answered her. He looked up in time to see the scolding look coming from his father.

A loud knock on the door pulled everyone from their thoughts. The door opened and Kevin stepped into the room leaving the door open behind him. "I just wanted to let you all know that Ron is in his own room now. You can go see him if you like."

Everyone at the table stood before he finished his sentence. They all rushed for the door and found their way to Ron's room. Fred and George were joking with themselves the whole way there. When the door to Ron's room opened, a hush fell over the family. Everyone took their time walking into the room and looking around.

Ron lay on the bed with bandages on his head and a cast around his chest and upper body, going down one arm. The bandages on his head looked as if they were fresh, but would soon need replaced. The window curtains were drawn to keep out most of the light. The salmon coloured sheets were pulled up to the middle of Ron's chest, and one of his legs was up in a sling. The rudimentary sling was a bar that was held up by two chains connecting to a rail over the bed. The sight of him sent shivers down everyone's back. It was now that they were realizing the damage that was done to their beloved brother and son.

Arthur went to the bed and took Ron's free hand squeezing it, letting him know that he was there and that it was going to be ok now. Ron turned his head and opened his eyes. "Harry." Arthur was about to correct him, but suddenly realized what his son was talking about. He didn't want his father right now. What he wanted was his boyfriend.

"I don't know where he is Ron. But he'll be here soon."

Ron's breathing was ragged. He strained to keep his eyes open and his voice was barely audible, even in the hushed silence. "Hogwarts with Dumbledore."

Arthur and Petunia knew that Harry was somewhere in the hospital now. Ron thought Harry was still with Professor Dumbledore. Arthur didn't know how to tell his son that Harry was here, but left with Molly. Just as he was about to tell him, the door opened and Harry and Molly stepped into the room.

Harry stood in the doorway looking at the bed. He knew that the injuries were bad, but he didn't think they would be this bad. He hated seeing him like this, but knew that he had to be closer to him. He had to touch his boyfriend to know that he was really alright. Harry wiped the tear from his eye and walked into the room and directly up to the bed. He reached out and ran his hand through Ron's hair.

"Harry?" Ron asked, his voice sounding barely a moan.

"Yeah mate, it's me." Harry sat down on the side of the bed and took his hand. He looked up at the family in front of him. He saw Molly nod from the back of the room. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver box and set it down on his leg. He looked at Ron's face and asked him to open his eyes. He let out a sigh when he saw Ron comply. "Ron, there's something I need to tell you. You were my first best friend, and you were my first lover." He paused and looked up at Petunia. He saw the smile and knew it was alright to continue. "You were there for me when I thought no one else was. You always wanted to protect me from Voldemort, and you don't know how bad I wanted you to. I never thought I would get to say this to you. Ronald Bilius Weasley, will you marry me?"


	14. Inturruptions

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

**Chapter 14**

"**Interruptions"**

The hospital room stood in complete stillness. The deafening silence was broken by a sharp intake of breath. Everyone, excluding Ron, had turned to see who had broken the moment. Ginny's hand rose to her mouth as her eyes quickly filled to the brim with tears. She turned on her heels and exited the room, running down the corridor. Molly shook her head and ran after her daughter. Everyone that was left standing in the room turned their heads back to their family member who was bedridden. Moments ticked by that seemed to take an eternity. Just as Ron opened his mouth to answer he was overtaken by a sharp pain emanating from the center of his chest, causing him to moan.

Harry leaned in closer and picked up Ron's hand and held it in his own for a while before opening the ring box. Inside the soft red box was what seemed to be crushed purple velvet, encasing a sterling silver ring with two chrome bands encircling it. He gently reached in and pulled the ring from the box and held it before Ron's finger. "I know that I wasn't here when you woke up, but when the healer told me that we may have lost you, I didn't know what to think Ron. I don't want to imagine my life without you. I sat there numb in my chair trying to think of how I would go on, and by Merlin's name, I could come up with no answer." He reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek before looking at everyone in the room.

The twins stood open mouthed. They couldn't believe what they had heard. They knew for awhile about Ron and Harry, but never thought it would come to this. Everyone goes through an experimental stage in their lives, and that's all they had attributed it to. But looking at them now, they could see the love radiating off of Harry.

Petunia held her skeletal arms around herself, crying openly. Although with first glance someone might think she was crying out of sadness, but it was just the opposite. She was so happy for her nephew at this moment that the only way to keep from screaming it was to cry. It had been quite a while since she'd cried tears of joy, and realized that she liked this much better as opposed to the constrained tears of sadness and fright that she had gotten so used to crying when she was a muggle. Her hand came up and wiped the bulbous tear that had fallen onto her cheek. With a smile, she nodded at Harry.

Bill and Charlie were looking at each other, then to the two boys sitting on the bed. Harry never told them about his feelings for their youngest brother, but something told him that they wouldn't really mind. It seemed he was right. The only one that seemed upset about what happened was Ginny. He felt bad for not telling her about his feelings for Ron, but he knew she wouldn't understand. Harry heard someone sniff and turned his head to see Arthur crying. He wasn't sure if it was the sight of seeing his youngest son in this condition, or the proposal, but no one had openly objected, so Harry thought things were alright, regarding the circumstances.

The darkness that came into the room seemed overwhelming. Lights automatically came on in the room, almost as if they sensed it was too dark to see. Artificial light poured into the room from overhead and from the doorway. Harry's gaze saw something in his peripheral vision and his breath caught in his throat. Before he could say anything, a young red headed male strode into the room carrying something in his hand. Walking over to the boy lying in the bed, he thrust the package on his chest. "Our deepest sympathies from the Ministry." Steeling a look at Harry, he grimaced.

"Percy, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

Percy Weasley puffed out his chest, "I'm delivering a care package from the Ministry."

"Always business I see. Merlin knows you wouldn't use your own time to see your little brother when he needs his family the most." Fred interjected.

"It's not-"

"Yeah, the minister's lap dog always doing his bidding." George added.

"BOYS!" Arthur scolded. He turned to his son "Percy, thank you for coming. I'm sure you're just as worried as the rest of us." He reached out to put a hand on the young man's shoulder and saw him recoil.

"Actually, I have other business to attend to." He replied walking towards the door. The hard look in his eyes told everyone that he had no intention of staying or asking how his youngest brother faired in the fight for his life. He turned to exit the room and was blindsided by a punch coming from his only sister.

"How dare you speak like that! You wouldn't know what family was if you were dropped right in the middle of one. Oh and look at that, you have been. Prat." She spat the last word out of her mouth.

No one noticed the feeble Ron reaching his hand out and deep into Harry's robes. Although Harry was in the moment, he was quickly pulled out of it by the feeling of something foreign so close to his skin. He realized what it was and gave Ron a quizzical look. Pulling the wand out of Harry's robes, Ron strained to turn on his side. The package that was resting so heavily on his chest fell to the floor with a loud clatter and a burst of powder. Ron took this chance and grabbed Harry's hand, squeezing it as tight as he could and strained "_Levicorpus."_

Percy was taken up by his foot bringing him upside down, screaming for someone to help him. The twins began to snicker and laugh, as did Ginny.

Harry wiped his brow and sat back as much as he could, quickly taking his wand out of Ron's hand and pushing it back deep inside his robes where it belonged. If asked, he was not sure he could describe the feeling that passed through him. He had never felt his magic being pulled in such a direction before, from so deep inside of him out through the palm of his hand and into Ron's. The feeling was almost dizzying. By now, everyone's attention was turned to the boys on the bed. Ron was again on his back and had his eyes closed, Harry could tell he was straining not to smile, but he was not sure anyone else would see it from their distance. The attention was quickly drawn to the floor as the powder was finally settling. As everything was getting settled, Harry reached across Ron to grab his goblet of water so he could give his boyfriend something to drink, and help hide the smile that was becoming slowly more pronounced. As he began pulling the chalice back to him, it slipped from his grip and clattered when it hit the floor. The powder that had become wet began to fizz and pop, growing in size.

"What's this?" Arthur demanded looking back at his son, who was still hanging by his left extremity. He walked over to his son and grabbed him by the front of his robes and pulled him upwards a bit, just enough to get a good look at the young lad in front of him. "I demand to know what this is right now!" No matter how much he tried, he could not keep his voice down. He was so angered that he was unconsciously shaking the young man.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know. I was told by the Minister to come and drop it off. I don't know what's inside of it." Percy wailed. It was obvious that he was almost in tears, but it seemed that no one in the room really cared about his feelings at that moment in time.

Bill walked over to his younger brother and carefully placed a hand on his father's shoulder, looking down at the younger sibling, "You mean, you didn't think to _look _inside of it?"

Percy was shaking his head. "No, why would I do that? It came from the minister himself. I would have asked, but he had someone in there with him. I think it was a student from Hogwarts, I know those robes. Merlin knows I'd never forget those robes."

Harry's attention was seized. "A Hogwarts student? Do you know who it was?" He had sat up and was now gripping Ron's hand tightly.

"No, I don't know. I saw him from behind, but he had blond hair. That's all I know. Will you please let me down now?" Percy whined, almost frantically. "I have other errands I need to run for the minister. These things are important."

All eyes were again turned to see the boy hanging top side down. With everything that had happened in the past couple of hours, no one could understand the nervousness of Percy's pleadings. Their thoughts were on their broken and sick family member. A woman that Percy didn't recognize slowly walked up to him and turned to face his father. "So this is the other one you told me about?" She asked, being careful not to use any vehemence in her voice. When she saw Arthur nod, she knew that he was somewhat ashamed to declare that this young man had been his son at one point in time, and probably would be again in time when he realized that family was more important than anything else in the world. He was still a young pup who was dazzled by the bright lights and big names of the ministry of magic. In time, things would settle in his mind, or so she hoped. She was sure that he was actually a good boy who prided his family, but then again, she had just met him, and his first appearance did nothing positive for his image. "Percy; that is your name isn't it?" She asked.

He simply nodded. He was reduced to making effortless grunts and head motions.

"Well, let me tell you something Percy. Family is the best thing in the world." She stole a glace back at Harry. "It took me some years to realize this, but now that I have, I will never let my nephew go. You see, your family will stick by you no matter what decisions you make, whether they agree with them or not. But you can always count on them. They'll always be there for you." Petunia looked over at the twins and saw their mouths hanging agape. "You see Percy, when you realize this, I'm sure you will feel an aching in your heart for not caring about them over these years, but I am also sure that they will take you back." With having said everything she wanted to, everything that wouldn't cause a stir in the family, she stepped back and draped her arm over Harry's shoulder. She felt his body relax at her touch. He had gone through so much in so little time. Although, she still did not know about everything that had happened to him while he was at school all those years, and also did not know about Sirius, or the Order. But there was one thing she did know, and this one thing meant more to her than anything else in her life. Harry now had one more person to protect him.

After the speech was made, no one could say anything. It seemed that no matter what followed in Petunia's wake, it would only seem miniscule in comparison. When she had decided to get her point across, she wasn't intending to stun the whole family, although, with one comes the other apparently. The Weasley's all stood with shocked expressions on their faces looking from her to Percy, then back to her. She didn't know what to say to ease their minds, but she knew that she didn't say something that was untrue. She looked up to Molly for assistance.

Molly caught her gaze and nodded. Reaching into her robes she pulled out her own wand and pointed at her dangling son. "_Liberacorpus."_ She watched as her son's foot was released from its binding and he fell to the floor. No one said a word to her about letting him down. They knew that had he stayed like that any longer, his head probably would have burst from the amount of blood flow it had received. She watched as Percy started to right himself, but fell over, landing squarely on his bum.

"Right place for you to be then." Fred quipped.

"Yeah, right on your bum." George added.

The twins stopped their barrage when Molly sent them a look of censure. Each boy had taken a step back to remove themselves from the line of fire that was in their mother's eyes. "Now, I will hear no more of this nonsense. Do you hear me boys?" Both nodded that they understood. She turned her hurtful gaze to her forlorn son. "I raised you better than this Percy Weasley! By the way you act; one would think I didn't do anything in your upbringing. If you are not here for Ronald, then you have no place here." She turned her back to him and walked to the side of the bed. She took his cast hand and held it for a moment. She tensed as the door closed behind her. "And you Ronald Weasley," she shook her head, "where on earth did you learn that hex?" Molly allowed herself to chuckle. Turning to Harry, she urged him to remind Ron of the pending question.

Harry squeezed Ron's hand once more, trying to gain his attention. When Ron turned his head towards his boyfriend, Harry gasped. The answer was in his eyes, even though he hadn't voiced it, he knew what the answer would be. Picking up the ring again, he looked deep into those brown eyes that he had come to love so well. "Ron, I know this is the third attempt at this, and maybe this time I'll get it right." He giggled nervously. "I love you. I've loved you for years, and I'll never stop loving you. This seems to be the right thing to do. You're everything to me." Harry quickly slid off the side of the bed and went down on his right knee, still embracing Ron's hand. "Will you marry me Ron?" Harry looked over at the doorway and saw a new figure standing there. He would recognize that bushy hair anywhere. This time was no different. His gaze traveled to her face and he saw her wipe a tear from her eyes, but his attention was brought to his hand being squeezed.

"You act like I'm going to die mate." Ron said while coughing.

"No love, it's nothing like that. It's that we have been through so much together, you and I, and for a little bit, we did loose you. I just about went mad over that. I can't loose you Ron, and I won't loose you." Harry began to openly cry.

Ron shook his head, "No, no you won't loose me Harry." He struggled to sit up, propping himself on his right elbow, to look into Harry's green eyes. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Harry slid the ring onto Ron's finger and watched as everyone in the room began to cheer and clap. He carefully pulled Ron's hand to his lips and kissed it, then stood and kissed him on the forehead, and finally on the lips, letting the kiss linger a bit longer than what would have been appropriate.

The bushy haired girl who still stood in the doorway squealed with delight at seeing her two best friends finally make their relationship official and take it to the next level. She walked into the room and immediately walked over to Molly and wrapped her arms around her. "I was looking for you at King's Cross Station, but you weren't there to pick up Ginny. I was looking forward to seeing all of you again one last time before summer started. Then I heard the news." She said this last sentence in a hushed tone. Hermione reached inside her robes and pulled out a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ and handed it to Molly. She then walked over to Arthur and gave him a tight hug, as well as each of the twins. She nodded at Bill and Charlie while walking over to Harry. Her arms found their way around his waist and she pulled him close to her. Although she would never admit how much she missed them over the time they were gone from school, she would never tell them such. Her gaze fell on Ron, and even though he was smiling, her eyes welled up with tears at the sight of his condition. With a trembling hand, she reached out and grasped his fingers, eyeing the ring that he now wore.

"What in the bloody hell is all this about?" Molly screamed.

Everyone in the room looked up at her. Arthur being the first to speak, "What is it dear?"

Molly unfolded the paper and continued reading, mumbling under her breath the entire time. "Seems someone at the Prophet heard about Ron. They wrote an article about it." She cleared her throat and read aloud:

"**Diagon Alley No Longer Safe**

**By: Abigail Banks**

**Late **last night, a young wizard had gone to Diagon Alley to purchase something for a special friend of his. While he was there, it seems, by sources that wish to remain unnamed and their locations secret, the store in which he wished to purchase this item, no longer carried it. The young lad had turned around with disappointment set in his eyes on his way back home. While on his way to the general floo area, he was attacked by a much older and much larger wizard. Descriptions of this man are that he had long white blond hair that came to the middle of his back and he carried what could be described as a walking cane. Although there are many wizards who match this description, and one who immediately comes to mind, the Prophet would like to speak with Ronald Weasley about him. One of our sources told the Prophet that the man had walked by him, and he was sure he could smell Polyjuice Potion. With the Death Eaters on a frantic search for the one Harry Potter, one can only assume that his beloved friend was in the wrong place at the wrong time. More on this story as we receive more information."

Molly folded the paper and stuck it under her arm. Her mind had told her not to read the article in front of Ron, but her heart knew that he needed to know about it. She was also glad that she only had to read it once for all of her family to hear it. The family discussions this would bring would have to happen later, out of Ron's earshot.

Harry's look grew adamant. "What does she mean, 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'? That's the biggest load of dragon dung I've ever heard."

Charlie gave Harry a hurt look. "You know, that's just not right."

Ginny walked over to her mum and ripped the paper out from under her arm and threatened to tear it to shreds. "Don't you dare Ginny Weasley! We need to keep that paper."

"But mum! This is all lies, and you know it is."

"I know, but we need to keep it in case Ron wants to look over it when he's able. You know he'll want to."

With a sigh, Ginny gave the paper back and made her way to Hermione's side. It was now that she got her first look at her brother. He didn't look right with all the casts on him, and his leg up in a sling. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but was afraid she would only hurt him more than he already was. She saw that Harry had given up trying to get an answer to his question and went back to stroking Ron's arm, trying to comfort him. He didn't give a look of being upset over the news, but she didn't know for sure. Ginny figured that it had probably struck him somewhere deep down. She did reach out and touch his leg, and noticed that he didn't recoil, so she ran her hand down to his knee and back up his thigh, being careful not to move the blanket too much. After a couple of times of doing this, she stopped and let her hand rest where it was.

Arthur looked down at the floor and pulled out his wand, pointing it downward towards the box and watched as purple strands came shooting out of the tip and cleaned up the mess made by the powder and water mixture. He was met with Bill at his side. "You know dad, since that came from the ministry, do you think it was some of that numbing bath powder?"

Recognition fell on the older wizard's face. "You know, that does sound like something Cornelius would do. I bet that's what it was. I'll have to ask him to send some more over to the house when Ron can go home. I don't think he'll need it while he's in here. I'm pretty sure the healers have spells that he's under right now for the pain."

As talking in the room became regular, a sense of calm came over the room. Nervous tension was being pushed aside for thankfulness, and worry was being expelled. The general feeling of fear quickly fled to the darkest corners to lay in wait. The talking seemed to die quickly as a lone figure stood in the doorway. No one was sure as to how long they had been there, but with a quill in her hand she was writing furiously, glancing up occasionally at the family in front of her. As the talking finally ceased, the lone reporter looked up, an aghast look on her face. Her face deepened in colour to a dark red. "Uh, pardon me." She stuck out her hand to Arthur as she made her way into the room. "I'm Abigail Banks from the Daily Prophet. I was wondering if –"She was cut off by one of two boys who looked exactly alike, although she couldn't place which one he was.

"If my little brother would like to make a statement than he will let someone know accordingly, which he has not done. I would think it very pertinent that you leave at once. This is for family and friends only, not reporters." George spat.

"I think you misunderstand my intentions young Mr. Weasley. You see, with your brother's attack, Diagon Alley is no longer safe, and –"again she was cut off, but this time by an older boy, obviously still young enough to not be the father.

"Abigail," Bill said softly as he walked over to her placing his hand gently on her shoulder. He noticed the small recoil and lightened the weight in his arm. "I don't think you understand. Ron is in no condition to be seeing people right now. If you would, please make your way out into the waiting area, where I'm sure there are loads of other reporters, just like yourself, who are concerned about the condition of Diagon Alley, not my brother's life. So I'm going to ask the same of you as my brother, please leave now before we are forced to take action against you for not abiding to our wishes." Bill turned sharply and walked to the bedside without so much as a look backwards at the woman standing in dark blue robes.

She took her cue and walked quietly out of the room. She turned on her heels and stopped, still in front of the door, with her mouth hanging open. Quickly, Abigail ran back into the room and slammed the door, pressing herself against it.

Bill heard the door slam and turned his head. He thought he heard her heels clicking their way out of the room, but it would be just like a reporter to lock herself in there with them just to get information. He puffed out his chest a bit and looked at her trembling frame. "I thought I told you to leave Miss Banks. It would behoove you to open that door and walk out into the waiting area with the rest of the reporters." He said slowly as he drew his wand out of his traveling cloak. He noticed her shaking and thought she was putting on a wonderful act. The only time he ever saw someone shaking that much was -.

"D…De…Death Eaters!" She stammered.

End of Chapter 14


	15. Confusing Justice

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

**Chapter 15**

"**Confusing Justice"**

A/N: I'm sorry that it's taken so long to get this chapter out, but I've been extremely busy, and on top of that, my laptop was down for the better part of 6 months. I would have started over, but I knew there were some things in this chapter that I couldn't do without, and if I had forgotten them, which I certainly would have, the chapter would have been left quite bland. I do hope you enjoy this installment. I'll be working fervently to get out chapter 16 as soon as I can.

**Confusing Justice**

Three of the older Weasley men grabbed for their wands and held them before the last syllable could be spoken from her lips. Charlie ran to the door, helping to brace it against any attack that might try to force its way inside. His glance stole across Harry's face, and he could see the anger flashing through his emerald eyes, with wand in hand [this last phrase doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the sentence. Perhaps make it into a new sentence or delete it?

Bill ran around the bed to stand at Harry's side and help ward off the oncoming invasion. Although he stood almost a foot away from the raven-haired boy, he could feel the fury radiating from him. Never before had he had a reason to question Harry's motives against Voldemort and his followers, but he sensed more in that defining moment than he had ever felt coming from one person. The feeling, now seeping into him, began to entangle itself with his own emotions. He tried to shake the feeling off, but couldn't. It was times like these that young wizards were so valuable: when they acted without thought, only through pure emotion. Bill now realized that Harry was just as powerful as everyone claimed him to be. His thoughts of questioning his motives quickly ebbed, as a loud bang came from the door.

Arthur stood poised by his wife and daughter. He had barely thought about what he was doing, but realized that the twins were one step ahead of him in standing around Hermione and Ron. There was enough power in this room to blow Durmstrang into the ocean if need be. He looked around the room and saw that everyone had their wands drawn except for Ron, Abigail, and Petunia. He was sure that, she, being a reporter, had come in some sort of contact with a Death Eaters before today, but it seemed that all her conscious thought and emotions shut down, only allowing her to be scared out of her wits. When he [Arthur looked at his second eldest son, he saw the odd face he was making. _Charlie's trying to tell me something!_ The thought echoed through his mind, but came to a halt when he saw the door jerk open then slam shut quickly.

Screams were heard throughout the corridors of the hospital. Obviously people were running for their lives, or just trying to stay hidden away from the people in the dark robes and masks. A small flash of a green light came from the bottom of the doorway. They were definitely the Death Eaters. Harry didn't think there were any other wizards or witches who would use the famous Unforgivable Curse that produced that colour of light.

Everyone in the room tensed as they heard a loud crash of someone's body slamming into something metallic. Charlie looked at Fred and told him to switch places with him. When Fred's weight was firmly pressed against the door, Charlie left and ran to his father, carefully bringing his mouth to the older man's ear. "Dad, I smell Polyjuice Potion."

Arthur stared in shock. _Didn't that article written by this woman mention something about Polyjuice?_ He nodded quickly and sent his son back to the door, and then made Fred return to where he was. Another bone-jarring crash came against the door, but this time it couldn't be held. The thick wooden door flung open, and the ends splintered as it hit the wall.

Four people stood in the doorway and looked into the room. Their eyes scanned the faces, looking for the person who had betrayed them. Unfortunately, she had gotten so good at making the Polyjuice that she could have transformed into anyone in the room.

One of the masked members stepped forward and raised his hand, saying, "We don't want the boy. We want the outsider."

Seeing the looks change on their faces was priceless. He now saw the boy standing in the back of the room, wand pointed directly at him, shaking with rage.

All eyes in the room stared directly at Harry Potter. Clearly, this wasn't the response he wanted. He was sure that even if that woman had managed to get some of Harry's hair, which she could have done in all of the numerous times she had interviewed him (or pretended to), she would not be able to convincing the others of her assumed identity. They would know the subtle differences. There were some habits that the woman just could not suppress, even if she was drinking the potion. She was known all over the magical land as the big-haired, blond woman with the red pouty lips.

Lestrange saw movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head slowly, not wanting to let Harry fall out of eye sight. He was sure that the brazen wizard would try something stupid.

_It's her, it has to be_. The thought instantly crossed his mind as he saw the young woman trying to hide behind the door. His arm reached out and took hold of her before he commanded it to. He felt sudden warmth around his finger tips as he realized his fingernails were biting into her skin. _Good, she needs to suffer._ He dug his fingers in deeper and felt something underneath the palm of his hand. When he looked down, he saw her skin start to bubble. He knew what was happening. She hadn't drunk any potion before coming to the hospital; she was changing back to who she really was.

"RITA SKEETER?!" Hermione shrieked. She ran over to the older woman and stood in front of her. "How dare you weasel your way in here! Who do you think you are?"

Rita still shook from fright. She knew they would find her, and she knew what they would do to her when they did. She had to at least try to escape. It was when she had seen Ron in Diagon Alley that things started to go sour. Her Polyjuice Potion had worked wonderfully. She walked down the alleys with everyone shying away from her. Who in their right mind would confront Lucius Malfoy? It had all gone according to plan until that man stepped out from his shop to see what the ruckus was all about. She had to run away and leave the boy where he was and hope that she had done enough damage to him.

Rita turned to face her executioner; it was the only option she had left. She opened her mouth to tell him to hurry up and get it over with, but was surprised as the green jet shot out of the end of his wand and hit her squarely in the chest. Her vision clouded then went black almost instantly. Rita Skeeter was dead. Murdered, right in front of the entire Weasley family and Harry Potter.

The figures in the doorway all turned and walked away without a second glance. The door shut behind them, pushing the dead woman out of its way. Everyone stood in stark silence. This was not something anyone had expected. All eyes in the room, save for the woman hiding under the bed, were captivated by the cadaver.

Silence could penetrate even the deepest minds here. Worries were beginning to show their faces, and fear was quickly drawing its way up their spines. One question spoke in everyone's mind at once. _If they were so close, why didn't they take Harry out with them?_

When the thought crossed Harry's mind, his reaction was nothing that could be expected. He was a bit disappointed on the inside. Although, he was showing relief on the outside, he knew that if the Death Eaters were to try and wage an attack against him at that particular moment, the only thing he would have working in his favor was his rage and the fact that there were five members of the Order in the room with him as well.

The realization dawned on him in that instant. He never thought of putting the two together until then. He always thought of them as the Weasley family, not that most of them were members of the Order of the Phoenix. His gaze traveled from each person to the next, wondering just what would have happened if Voldemort's followers would have tried some other kind of attack. They probably thought that having Harry watch them kill someone right in front of them would have been damaging enough, but most of them weren't there that night in the cemetery when the TriWizard Cup was turned into a Portkey.

Harry was instantly flooded with memories of Cedric Diggory in his failed attempts to stay alive. It had been some time since he had thought of Cedric's final moments, and he was again overcome by that helpless feeling of being able to do nothing. Unconsciously, Harry's hands flexed into the tightest fists he had ever made. He was brought back to reality by the biting pain in his palms. The warmth trickling down his fingers brought about a slight tremor that ran through him.

The gasp coming from the unseen woman caused his hands to relax again and drop to his knees. He saw that the bed sheets allowed no clear vision of the other side of the room, so his aunt Petunia still had no idea what had transpired only moments before. As she carefully crawled out from under the bed, she spoke in a hushed tone that still seemed too loud.

"Harry, why on _earth_ did you shove me underneath the –"

She had her answer when she turned to the door. Petunia had undoubtedly seen the corpse lying there. Her bony hand quickly came to her mouth as she tried to quell the sudden uneasiness that rose from deep within her. The realization of the dangers that Harry was in had started to sink into her mind. Even though she wouldn't speak her worries, they played themselves out on her face. The thought came back of one of the first nights she was at the Burrow, talking with everyone at the dinner table and Harry hushing them before they could tell Petunia just what they were talking about. It seemed that Harry lived with these sorts of things every day. She wanted to pull him close to her and never let him go.

Her will to learn more magic suddenly became much stronger seeing the aftereffects in the room. There was no telling what could have really happened if those people decided to remove everyone else from the room. As she gazed from person to person, she did notice that most of them had their wands drawn, and stood in a defensive position.

_Surely they wouldn't have let something happen to Harry_., Petunia thought. But even now, she couldn't be so sure. She wished with all her might that Harry would be safe for the time being until they could get him back to the house.

Knowing the dangers that her nephew faced only brought the original fear back into play. Why did it have to be so hard to be a good person these days? Although, she knew that it wasn't just being a good person, it was the fact that her nephew was Harry Potter. _The_ Harry Potter. Petunia had heard stories when she was younger of a prophecy stating that someone would live against a Killing Curse. It was now that the realization finally set in. _Harry is that boy. My Harry is the boy who lived._

Although times were different then, and they didn't have to worry about the Dark Lord, some still did fret about the prophecy. Who would be dumb enough to try and go that evil? It wasn't until several years later that she had received her answer: Tom Riddle. Even living like a Muggle wouldn't stop her sister from sending her letters, warning her.

Petunia had never thought that she would be in danger since she was hardly a real witch anymore. _Were those letters really for me?_ She thought to herself. What if it was just a way for Lily to reach out to someone else? What if her sister had been trying to tell her the whole time that she feared the Dark Lord would come after her and James? Guilt began to seep into her mind. She knew that couldn't be the case, but what if it was? Without trying to stop herself, Petunia reached out and pulled Harry close. She wished now that she wouldn't have tried to stay in the dark for all those years.

The door began to open slowly with a small rap as a nurse poked her head inside. "Just coming to check on young mister…" her sentence halted. Her eyes had made contact with the remains of the blond-haired woman lying on the floor. When she looked up again, her eyes flashed with worry as she saw that most of the people in the room were brandishing their wands. Her arm flew to her hip as it cocked to the side.

"What in the bloody hell happened in here?" It was obvious that she was waiting for an answer, and to everyone's surprise, Ron spoke up.

"My boyfriend just proposed to me," he said with a grin. He saw the woman's look of incredulity and looked down at the late Rita Skeeter. "Oh, her," he said, almost noncommittal. "Some Death Eaters came in here and killed her." Before Ron could finish his statement, the nurse's face grew dark red.

"DEATH EATERS? In St. Mungo's? Someone has to be told." She turned on her heels and tried to speed from the room. Arthur came up behind her, gently placed his hand on her shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. She nodded slightly and then calmly walked with the older man out of the room.

Those that remained in the room stood utterly still. Hermione was the first to move as a tremor overtook her. A sound came from her mouth that was both intelligible and almost inaudible. Those within earshot turned to look at her. It had been quite some time since a voice was heard in the room, the sound seemed foreign. "That was…" She let the thought trail off.

Harry reached his arm out and draped it across the young brunette's shoulders. She relaxed with his touch. It had been so long since any of the three had spent time together, and even though this situation was not ideal, it would have to do. His mind began pushing thoughts to the forefront. _Why wasn't I there to protect him? What could he have possibly wanted to get that was so important? Why didn't he ask me to go with him? Why…"_

Before he could bring a hand to his face, tears fell from each eye simultaneously. He was sure that someone in the room could see that he was crying, but he didn't really care. There were times when some people just needed to let go. This was Harry's time. Now was when he was going to deal with the pain. Something in his mind was telling him to run out of the room, telling him that he needed time to think.

He decided at that moment, that something was more important than that. There was something that he needed to take care of, and even though it wasn't something that could be taken care of easily, it was something that he was going to devote his life to. He would devote himself with more passion than finding Voldemort, with more passion than avenging his parents' death. He was going to protect Ron. The one person, in his mind, who would love him like no other could. The one that he felt a love for that was new to him. With each passing day, the love grew stronger and stronger. Over these past years, he never thought he could feel something this strong for one person, but there it was, staring him right in the face.

As the night began to grow, members of the Weasley family slowly parted from the room. Molly approached Petunia and offered her to come with them, and was happy when the taller woman accepted. Ron watched as his family departed, going home to get some rest, promising to return early the next morning. No one bothered to ask Harry if he would return to the house. They knew the attempt would be futile and possibly taken the wrong way. They knew that the best thing for Ron right now would be to rest, but also to spend time with Harry. The least they could do was to let the boys talk about what happened.

As the door closed with a click of the bolt, the boys looked at each other, a devilish grin coming to the redhead's face. "About bloody time. I thought they would _never_ leave."

Harry stood, open-mouthed. He watched as Ron reached out with his good arm and grasped his hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm alright love, really. You can stop worrying now."

Harry shook his head. He looked down as the tears that endangered him before came back. There was so much that he wanted to say at that moment, but knew that he couldn't. Or thought that he couldn't. He didn't want to start a fight when Ron was in his current condition, to be more precise, Harry didn't want to fight with Ron at all, but he knew that it would happen inevitably.

Harry would ask at some point in the future why Ron went out alone that night, and Ron, being as prideful as he is, would only evade his question. Harry knew that Ron would never try to intentionally hurt him, but sometimes when he refused to answer him, it only hurt him more. He didn't want to appear controlling or jealous, or anything of the sort, but when his own partner couldn't tell him everything…it tended to make things difficult.

Knowing this, Harry pushed his desire to know why Ron had gone out that night into the back of his mind. _It can wait until later._

He watched as Ron scooted his body over so Harry had some room to sit down close to him. Harry carefully sat down, being sure that the added pressure to the bed didn't move this boyfriend too much and cause him unnecessary pain.

"Why did you go out last night?" Harry asked before he could stop the words from slipping from his mouth.

Ron gazed at him questioningly. He wasn't sure how to answer his question. What would Harry think if he knew that Ron was going to propose to him as well? "Well… er… to be honest, I was…" he let a short pause "I was shopping."

"You were shopping that late at night, by yourself?" Harry knew he was giving Ron a look of incredulity, but he couldn't stop himself.

The redhead's eyes turned down in only what Harry could guess would be shame. "There was something important that I needed to get that I couldn't wait any longer to have." With this statement, Ron reached into his pocket with his good hand, halting only long enough to let Harry's mind wander over what could have been so important.

"The shop was closed, but I still found a way to get the one I was looking for, just don't ask me how I did it."

A slow grin started to cross Ron's face. Withdrawing his hand, he held up a scarlet covered box. This type of box usually held one of two things, and since Harry's ears weren't pierced, he had a pretty good guess as to what was in it.

Ron carefully handed the box out to Harry and said with a sigh, "I just hope it didn't get damaged in the attack. I haven't had a chance to check it."

Harry gazed down at the box in his hand. It felt oddly heavy for being so small. He let his slim fingers graze over the soft felt before he opened it. Once he did, he let out a gasp. The platinum ring glared up at him with ferocity. It was beautiful. The ring was solid platinum, but seemed to have two silver bands that wrapped around it. The bands were clearly etched out on the inside of the ring as well. Harry noticed that the bands were actually rotating.

He thought he saw a chip in one of the bands, and looked a bit more closely. What he saw made his heart melt. There were no chips in the ring, or in the silver bands, but two very small engravings of one word on each band. Harry stared at his own name as it spun slowly around and around. At every half turn, his name met Ron's and a third word appeared in the dark platinum. "Love," Harry read aloud.

When he looked up, he saw that Ron's ears had turned a ferocious shade of scarlet. It was quite obvious that he was embarrassed by the amount of time and precision that he had put into this ring, but there was no way that Harry could tell him what it meant to him. Without another word, Harry slipped the ring on his finger and smiled. He didn't bother talking; he knew at this point, it would be futile. Even as his mouth opened and closed, tears sprang to his eyes. It seemed that everything was right at this moment. He bent down to press a kiss to his lover's lips, but a knock sounded at the door.

With a small creak the door began to open; the first thing either of them saw was the brilliant green light emanating from the tip of someone's wand.


	16. Uncertainties

"**Warm Night at Hogwarts"**

**Chapter 16**

"**Uncertainties"**

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to post, but I have my reasons. It's rather short and I hope that you enjoy it. There is still a lot more to come, I just don't know how long it will take to post them. I've already started on the next installment, but you know me, I can make it last quite a while. But hopefully you won't have to wait too long. Enjoy.

**Uncertainties**

Without thought Harry dove in front of and covered Ron. Instead of being hit by the green light, he heard it pop overhead. It was followed by several other short pops. When it became silent in the room again, Harry looked up. He was surprised to see Neville Longbottom standing in the doorway looking a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry mates; I didn't mean to scare you." Neville stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. It was quite obvious that visiting hours were over and before either of the boys could ask, Neville answered the question that was playing in their eyes. "I saw Ron's mum in the hall and asked her if I could come see you guys. I was here…" He let the sentence trail off, looking at the floor.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, both wondering why Neville was at the hospital, but neither wanted to venture a guess. With the chubby boy fidgeting in the corner, Harry had to venture a guess. "Is your gram ill?"

Neville shook his head, letting the redness in his cheeks increase, keeping his eyes on the floor. He shuffled from his left to right foot, letting his weight shift from side to side. Never quite knowing what to say, he decided that sometimes the best things to say were nothing at all. When he finally allowed himself to look up, he noticed something new. There was something on Harry's hand. As soon as Neville realized what it was, his hand flew to cover his mouth. "Oh Merlin," he exclaimed, "I'm interrupting. I'm so sorry mates." He started to back away to the door.

Harry jumped up as quickly as he could and extended his arm. "No Neville. Stop." He looked down at the bed and let a slow smile come to his lips. "I think it's time someone should know. Ron just proposed to me." He let his sentence fade off into the silence of the room.

Neville stopped and stared, open-mouthed at his raven haired friend. He let his gaze travel to the bed, then back to Harry. "You… You did say yes didn't you?" Neville asked uncertainly.

"Well, he really didn't say anything at all, yet. He was probably going to and then you came busting in here with your fireworks." It was obvious that Ron was poking at Neville, but he didn't realize how much he was hurting his friend.

The boy looked at the two in front of him and slowly brought his hand up to wipe the tear away. "I'm so sorry guys. I had no clue." He turned and was out the door before anyone could stop him. When he was halfway down the corridor, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Without looking around, Neville let his shoulders slump and squinted his eyes. He was always mucking things up, but he wouldn't let it happen anymore. Tonight would be the last night that Neville Longbottom interrupted anything else. "Harry…" He felt himself being turned around and embraced. He felt the stinging behind his eyes and knew that he wouldn't be able to stop the tears from coming. "I'm…"

"I know mate. I know you're sorry. You didn't know. No one knew. I didn't know. It's ok. Come back to the room, I have something I want to show you."

Neville stood and shook his head. "I can't. I have ruined the perfect moment for you and Ron. I can't deal with that. I mean, I know I've messed up a lot of things before, but I shouldn't have called on you two. I should have given you your privacy. I should have asked before I came. I should have done a lot of things that I haven't done over the years. I'm sorry Harry."

Harry Potter stepped back from his friend. In all the years he'd known Neville he had never heard him apologize like this. He felt something deeper was going on, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Neville needed some kind of help, but he didn't know what kind or even if he could offer it to his friend, but he had to try something. His fellow mates in Gryffindor were his family for so long. It didn't matter that he had a grandmother now, or that his godfather was presumed dead, or that his new fiancé was laying in a hospital bed several rooms back. All that mattered was the emotionally frail boy in front of him. After searching his brain, all Harry could come up with to say was "Don't do anything stupid Neville. If you must go, I understand, but for Merlin's sake, don't do anything you'd end up regretting."

Neville turned around and walked briskly to the doors. For the beginning of the summer months, London was rather cold, the wind screaming through the trees. Every once and a while, an owl could be spotted flying low, with a letter attached to its leg. He needed to get to the Leaky Cauldron so he could pass through and get to Diagon Alley. He needed a couple of things in order to finish off what he had started.


End file.
